Do Businesses Need HR Departments?

Brian Hults poses the question:

Adding legitimacy to this skepticism are new technologies that enable automation of routine transactions, offshoring and shared service organizations that specialize in managing many tactical elements of HR. Outside vendors are handling classic HR functions like payroll, staffing and recruiting, and even equal employment opportunities investigations, often at a lower price and higher quality than companies can manage for themselves. Even sacred and often arcane areas of HR such as executive compensation are now largely guided by outsourced providers who are experts in current tax and SEC regulations.

In this world flush with cheaper ways to fulfill traditional HR tasks, is HR becoming obsolete?

Hults concludes in favor of HR's continued relevance.