HR Open Standards
HR Open Standards is a non-profit, volunteer-led consortium founded in 1999 that develops and maintains free, open HR-XML and HR-JSON data exchange specifications for HR technology vendors, employers, benefits carriers, screening providers, and educational institutions across the global HR lifecycle.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1999
- HeadquartersAurora, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What HR Open Standards does
HR Open Standards Consortium, Inc. is an independent, non-profit, volunteer-led standards organization founded in 1999 (originally as the HR-XML Consortium) and headquartered in Aurora, Colorado. It develops and maintains free, open HR-XML and HR-JSON specifications that enable interoperable data exchange across the full HR lifecycle, from hire to retire, covering recruiting, payroll, background screening, benefits administration, assessments, and employee/earnings records. Core technical artifacts include the parallel HR-XML and HR-JSON schema suites, the Job Data Exchange (JDX) standard hosted on behalf of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, the Skills Data standard, the Trusted Career Profile (TCP), and the pre-release Skills Proficiency Data API Schema. The organization also operates certification programs for individuals and products, training courses, and community engagement channels including weekly Coffee Chats, a podcast series, an annual in-person meeting, and virtual meetings.
The consortium serves HR technology vendors, employers, benefits carriers, background screening providers, and education/training institutions that need standardized formats to exchange HR data with trading partners. It maintains strategic partnerships with 1EdTech Consortium, Credential Engine, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, Data Standards United, IMS Global, Schema.org, the T3 Innovation Network, and the Velocity Network Foundation. Its workgroup process is consensus-based, transparent, and now open to non-members at no cost, reinforcing its mission of open HR data interoperability.
HR Open Standards monetizes through organizational membership dues (with ADP disclosed as a Vanguard Member alongside 25+ named organizational members), tiered event sponsorships (Supporter $1,000, Champion $2,500, Patron $5,000), individual and product certification programs, and training courses. All standards themselves are provided free of charge, with distribution via direct website download and a GitHub repository. The organization operates with 1-10 employees and is governed by an elected volunteer board of directors, with Jim Ireland serving as Executive Director and Jim Elder II as President for 2026.
HR Open Standards firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- HR Open Standards
- Legal name
- HR Open Standards Consortium, Inc.
- Website
- https://hropenstandards.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1999
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- HR Open Standards is a non-profit, volunteer-led consortium founded in 1999 that develops and maintains free, open HR-XML and HR-JSON data exchange specifications for HR technology vendors, employers, benefits carriers, screening providers, and educational institutions across the global HR lifecycle.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
HR Open Standards industry classification
Industry- Product category
- HR Data Exchange Standards
- NAICS
- Business Associations (813910), Human Resources Consulting Services (541612)
- SIC
- Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370), Services-Computer Programming Services (7371)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Core HR & HRIS (BPACAPAA)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- HR Operations Administration (HRIS Admin, Records, Employee Data Mgmt) (BPACAKAC), HRIS/HCM Implementation & EOR Platform Services (BPACAHAJ), HR Compliance, Policy, EEO & Labor Law (BPACAPAM)
Keywords
Where HR Open Standards is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Aurora
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
HR Open Standards business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Others
Revenue model
- Membership Dues: The consortium is funded through organizational membership fees. Members include Vanguard Members, Premier Members, and organizational members of various sizes who pay dues to participate in standards development and access the consortium community.
- Event Sponsorships: Sponsorship tiers for annual meetings and virtual meetings: Supporter ($1,000), Champion ($2,500), and Patron ($5,000). Sponsors receive logo placement on marketing materials, event website, emails, and social media.
- Standards (Free): All HR-XML and HR-JSON standards are free to download and use. The organization is voluntarily consensus-based and does not charge for standards access, reinforcing its mission of open data sharing.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Annual | Free Standards Access |
| Subscription | Annual | Organizational Membership |
| Subscription | Annual | Supporter Sponsorship |
| Subscription | Annual | Champion Sponsorship |
| Subscription | Annual | Patron Sponsorship |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
HR Open Standards product offering
Product offeringCore offering
HR Open Standards is a non-profit, volunteer-led consortium that develops and maintains free, open HR-XML and HR-JSON specifications for human resource data exchange. The standards cover the full employee lifecycle from Hire to Retire, including recruiting, payroll, screening, benefits, assessments, skills data, and job data exchange. The organization funds operations through organizational membership dues, event sponsorships, and related certification and training programs.
Product overview
HR Open Standards is a non-profit consortium (formerly HR-XML Consortium, founded in 1999) that develops and maintains free, open-source HR data exchange standards. The core offering consists of two parallel standards suites: HR-XML (for legacy/wide compatibility) and HR-JSON (modern JSON-based for API-first implementations). These standards are organized by domain-specific workgroups covering Recruiting, Screening, Benefits, Payroll, Assessments, Skills Data, and the Job Data Exchange (JDX). The organization also offers certification programs (individual and product), training courses, and community events (coffee chats, podcasts) to support adoption. The standards enable interoperability between HR systems, trading partners, and across the talent marketplace ecosystem.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- HR-XML Standards
- HR-JSON Standards
- Recruiting Standards
- Screening Standards
- Benefits Standards
- Payroll Standards
- Assessments Standards
- Job Data Exchange (JDX)
- Skills Data Standard
- Trusted Career Profile (TCP)
- Individual Certification
- Product Certification
- Training Courses
Quantifiable outcome
- Hundreds of enterprise integrations implemented by member companies like Milch & Zucker and Jobvite using HR Open standards
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use HR Open Standards
Customer profileNamed customers7 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles6 records
HR Open Standards technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature6 records
HR Open Standards partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eight partnerships are on record, tiered major, core, strategic and supporting.
- 1EdTech ConsortiummajorPartnership to advance skills-based hiring and learner mobility. The collaboration reduces barriers to skills-based hiring and accelerates adoption of interoperable credential and skills data standards across education and employment systems.
- U.S. Chamber of Commerce FoundationcoreCollaborates on T3 Innovation Network (500+ organizations) and Job Data Exchange (JDX) initiative. HR Open hosts the JDX standard (converted to JSON-Schema and XML) for job postings. Partnership supports public-private workforce data initiatives and employment/earnings records standards.
- Credential EnginecorePartnership to map and harmonize credential data standards. Collaborates on CTDL (Credential Transparency Description Language) and the Credential Registry to describe credentials across the 738,000+ credentials offered in the U.S.
- Data Standards United (DSU)majorCollaborative of standards organizations working to harmonize standards across education, training, and employment sectors. DSU enables co-leadership of projects, reduces duplicate standards development, and provides a platform for cross-standard partnerships.
- Velocity Network FoundationstrategicCollaboration on blockchain-based HR credential networks. HR Open Standards provides the higher-level data standards layer for credential interoperability within blockchain networks serving the credential-verifying needs of HR.
- Schema.orgsupportingCollaboration on job data standardization. Schema.org participates in JDX initiative alongside HR Open Standards, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, and Credential Engine.
- IMS GlobalsupportingCollaboration on learning credentials standards (CLR - Comprehensive Learner Record) and digital credential standards. IMS Global's work complements HR Open Standards in the learning and credential domain.
- T3 Innovation NetworkcoreNetwork of 500+ public and private partners building open data and technology infrastructure for an equitable talent marketplace. HR Open is an active participant working to map and harmonize data standards and develop employment and earnings record standards.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
HR Open Standards competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- Schema.org: Collaborative, community-driven vocabulary initiative for structured web data, including job postings. Participates in the JDX initiative alongside HR Open, addressing adjacent HR/talent data on the open web.
- Velocity Network Foundation: Non-profit building blockchain-based HR credential networks for verifiable workforce records. Comparable in mission around interoperable HR credential data, with HR Open providing the higher-level data standards layer for the initiative.
Direct peers
- 1EdTech Consortium: Non-profit, member-driven consortium developing open interoperability standards for educational technology. Closely comparable in structure, governance, and mission to HR Open Standards, and an active strategic partner on skills-based hiring and learner mobility.
- DirectEmployers Association: Non-profit association focused on workforce data, federal compliance, and HR technology connectivity for employers. Shares HR Open's member-driven, standards-oriented mission around HR data exchange and is an active member/partner organization.
- OAGi (Open Applications Group): Non-profit, member-driven consortium developing open B2B process and data interchange standards across multiple verticals. Operates under a similar consensus-based, volunteer-led model to HR Open, making it a structural peer in standards-body design.
- Credential Engine: Non-profit organization that maintains the Credential Transparency Description Language (CTDL) and a credential registry mapping hundreds of thousands of credentials. Highly comparable as a non-profit standards organization targeting the same HR/education intersection HR Open addresses.
- IMS Global Learning Consortium: Non-profit, member-driven organization developing open standards for learning technology and digital credentials. Closely parallels HR Open's governance and standards-development model, with overlapping coverage of learning/credential data relevant to HR.
- Data Standards United (DSU): Collaborative of standards organizations working to harmonize standards across education, training, and employment sectors. Directly comparable as a peer consortium operating in the same standards ecosystem and partnering with HR Open on cross-domain harmonization.
Broad incumbents
- NASWA (National Association of State Workforce Agencies): Non-profit association representing state workforce agencies and the public workforce system. Overlaps with HR Open on workforce data interoperability and is an organizational member, addressing the public-sector side of HR data exchange.
- U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation: Foundation affiliated with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that runs the T3 Innovation Network and originated the JDX job posting standard now hosted by HR Open. Comparable as a large non-profit driving workforce data standards with significant influence on HR Open's roadmap.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
HR Open Standards social profiles
Digital presenceHR Open Standards financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
HR Open Standards leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
HR Open Standards funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
HR Open Standards M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about HR Open Standards
What does HR Open Standards do?
HR Open Standards is a non-profit, volunteer-led consortium that develops and maintains free, open HR-XML and HR-JSON specifications for human resource data exchange. The standards cover the full employee lifecycle from Hire to Retire, including recruiting, payroll, screening, benefits, assessments, skills data, and job data exchange. The organization funds operations through organizational membership dues, event sponsorships, and related certification and training programs.
Is HR Open Standards a public or private company?
HR Open Standards is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was HR Open Standards founded?
HR Open Standards was founded in 1999. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is HR Open Standards based?
HR Open Standards is headquartered in Aurora, United States, in the North America region.
How does HR Open Standards make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Membership Dues are the primary driver. The others are event Sponsorships and standards (Free).
Who are HR Open Standards's main competitors?
Emerging players on record are Schema.org and Velocity Network Foundation. Direct peers are 1EdTech Consortium, DirectEmployers Association, OAGi (Open Applications Group), Credential Engine, IMS Global Learning Consortium and Data Standards United (DSU). Broad incumbents are NASWA (National Association of State Workforce Agencies) and U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation.
Does HR Open Standards have an API?
No public API is recorded for HR Open Standards.
What industry is HR Open Standards in?
HR Open Standards's product category is HR Data Exchange Standards. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPACAPAA, Core HR & HRIS, with a secondary code of BPACAKAC, HR Operations Administration (HRIS Admin, Records, Employee Data Mgmt). Its NAICS code is 813910 and its SIC code is 8600.