It depends on the company. I have seen companies where that does about sum it up. On the flip side, I have had HR reps bend over backwards to help me when I h

It depends on the company. I have seen companies where that does about sum it up. On the flip side, I have had HR reps bend over backwards to help me when I had the slightest problem with my health insurance when I was a more junior employee. As a manager, I have had the pleasure of working with HR departments that did the grunt work of posting the job openings for me, but simply passed on all resumes for me to filter as I choose and they have been extremely helpful in handling a lot of paperwork so I didn't have to. In short, I have seen HR departments that are a nightmare (especially for the line employees) as you described, but I have also seen them be true blessings both for the corporate leadership and for the individual worker. Thankfully I've worked with far more of the latter than the former.