Stay away if you are a smart technical person - Anonymous employee Workday Employee Review

1.0
Sep 28, 2014
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good culture, fun activities (a huge thank to employee programs team), work-life balance, strong CEO/founders

Cons

the company runs on technology written in 2000 even though its still "new" for HCM business. Irrespective of that if you are a smart technical person there are tons of reason why you should NOT join here unless you want to work for a government like job 1. innovation is highly discouraged and you can not change anything in the architecture/code unless you are one of the very few who joined the company in the initial stages. You are highly encouraged to be part of status quo and do whatever they asked you to do in the way they asked you to do. 2. EVERY decision has to be stamped by the few architects. If they don't understand it or don't wanna do it however compelling it is or how much of data you have to prove it, you can not do it. 3. You will sometimes encounter situations where you come up with ideas and they get shot down or ignored. But later, in few weeks, when an old timer suggests the same thing, everybody applauds it and rush to do it. 4. Unless you are part of one of the core teams, you will be working on their proprietary language which is about "clicking on sh*t" as they say it. It will make you a slave of the system and you won't learn anything. In fact, your value and your thinking abilities will go down drastically over time. You won't be able to use that experience in the future for your next job. 5. A lot of leaders in groups are either unaware of or afraid of new technologies. They don't want to even experiment with those and prototype new concepts unless they are comfortable with it. Always think in terms of how its gonna make there work complicated. In general, they have an old system even they are sick of keeping. But none of them want to rock the boat too much since its gonna affect their stocks at the end. The founders are wonderful to talk to and listen to and talks about the importance of innovation. But sadly innovation is really discouraged as long as the old timers are around. They have gotten comfortable with keeping a patched system and failing system than taking risks to improve things with new blood. If you want to improve yourself in few years, not afraid of taking risk and do innovative things don't even think about joining here. But if you want to find a place to peacefully retire, come at 9am and leave at 5pm, this is an ideal place.

Explore other reviews about Workday

5.0
May 20, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Workday is a truly values-driven company, and you can feel it every day. We’re in the middle of an exciting transformation to drive more innovation and speed, and while that has meant making some tough decisions, those decisions are always grounded in our core values. Employees and customers are consistently kept at the center, and there’s a real sense that doing what’s right guides how we operate and where we’re going as a company.

Cons

Decision-making can sometimes feel slow and unclear, as it’s not always obvious who has true ownership or final say. In a few areas, especially HR, leadership can feel more oriented around selling and positioning our products than around deep, hands-on practitioner experience, which occasionally creates a gap between strategy and the day-to-day needs of employees and managers.

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Workday Response
3w
Thank you for your feedback. We are proud of our culture and the success that we have achieved because of the hard work and dedication of our Workmates. Thanks for your contributions, your transparency, and for being an integral part of the Workday team during your time here.
4.0
Mar 31, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great people, benefits, culture, and pay. Lots of "workmates" with long tenures (10+ years). I truly wanted to retire from Workday!

Cons

Leadership changes freaked a lot of people out. Things felt unstable within the org for the last year (2025). The culture shifted from one that focused on employee growth to adopt all AI at all costs, and do it yesterday! It was extremely stressful to learn so much, so quickly, and create your own use cases and custom workflows - then to ultimately be laid off despite significant contributions.

1
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Workday Response
2mo
Thank you for your valuable input. At Workday, we pride ourselves on fostering a transparent workplace, maintaining the highest ethical standards, and promoting innovation. It's heartening to hear about your positive journey as a Workmate. We continue to be committed to delivering exceptional experiences for our Workmates.
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