They panic-hired for a future that never came, and then they panic-fired. All big tech companies have done this; Workday is no different. Corporate leaders are chosen by investors, and most big tech investors prioritize short-term gains over long-term sustainability. If that weren’t the case, Workday’s leaders would not have so recklessly laid off valuable employees—many of whom would have furthered their much-touted AI ambitions.

They severed limbs like medieval barber-surgeons, mistaking amputation for treatment.

https://www.techtarget.com/searchhrsoftware/news/366618914/Workday-layoffs-nearly-offset-last-years-hiring

Tech profits and valuations are unsustainable now that the era of near-zero-bound interest rates has ended. Layoffs are a symptom, a signal of desperation. Companies like Workday scramble to adjust to this new reality, yet their response is always the same: reactionary, erratic, and increasingly ruthless. They will cut again, and each time, the human toll will matter less.

Tech investors demand high valuations at all costs. They will force Workday’s leaders to do their bidding—or replace them with those who will. But the era of sky-high tech valuations is closing. No matter how much blood they draw, these investors will not get what they want.

Employees are no longer the heart of Workday’s culture. As always, actions reveal the truth that words try to conceal. Workday now revolves around short-term investors. Yet, soon enough, even they will lose—just as every workmate will.

Sustaining an employee-centered culture, as Workday's founders professed, requires courage in the face of adversity. Workday's leaders have demonstrated that they were never truly committed to that principle, despite their workmate-centric platitudes. Shakespeare put it best:

There are no tricks in plain and simple faith;
But hollow men, like horses hot at hand,
Make gallant show and promise of their mettle;
But when they should endure the bloody spur,
They fall their crests, and, like deceitful jades,
Sink in the trial.

— Julius Caesar, Act 4, Scene 2.

Are we having layoffs in first week of November, I’m hearing a lot of rumors about it!

Does workday layoff mean downfall of workday demand? What choices should be made career wise?

Seems like there was a wave of layoffs at workday today. Anyone know what teams were affected and how many?

Workday, the Bay Area payroll and human resources tech giant, announced on Wednesday that it would cut 1,750 jobs, or 8.5% of its workforce.

CEO Carl Eschenbach explained that the cuts were part of a restructuring effort to position the Pleasanton company to embrace artificial intelligence. This marks the second round of layoffs in just one year, following a 3% reduction in February 2024.

Sure feels like it. We are outsourcing more and more positions and responsibilities to Costa Rica & India. We are being told one thing, but all signs point to more layoffs.

I’ve already heard from multiple workmates who were let go. They have been doing this for the last 2 years and outsourcing everything to India.

I’m a former Workday employee with a three-digit ID, pre-IPO, who poured years of dedication into a company and product I believed in. Workday was built on six core values—Employees, Customer Service, Integrity, Fun, Innovation, and Profitability—set by founders Dave Duffield and Aneel Bhusri. These values defined the company’s early success, but since Carl Eschenbach became CEO, I’ve seen them erode, leaving those left behind disillusioned.

PTSD has set in.

Employees

Workday once called its employees its greatest asset, but this changed under Carl’s leadership. His attempt to connect—sharing a quirky story about using a FloBee to cut his hair—fell flat, failing to resonate with the workforce. Following the new CEO's playbook, he initially reassured employees, only to oversee significant layoffs starting February 6, 2025. Before this, Workday began quietly shifting jobs to Costa Rica. The layoffs devastated morale, leaving remaining employees in a state of shock, with many actively seeking new jobs. Some colleagues, despite applying for internal jobs during our paid transition period, were ghosted by recruiters, raising questions about potential age discrimination (as noted in a pending lawsuit). The company I joined no longer exists, and I’d never return.

Customer Service

For nearly two decades, Workday maintained a 95% customer satisfaction rating, tied to our bonuses. This wasn’t just a metric—it reflected the passion of early employees who genuinely cared about customers. Dave and Aneel fostered a culture where we felt valued, but Carl’s arrival shifted priorities. The decision to decouple customer satisfaction from bonuses signaled a decline in focus on service. The Brainstorm platform, once a hub for customer feedback and community solutions, has been sidelined, with many ideas left unaddressed. Tribal knowledge, critical for solving customer issues, vanished with the layoffs, and reliance on offshore teams in Costa Rica has weakened service quality.

Integrity

Workday’s integrity took a hit on February 6, 2025, with layoffs affecting nearly 10% of the workforce, despite a reported $526 million net income for fiscal year 2025 and steady growth. A company with integrity would have opted for a hiring freeze or redeployed employees to preserve expertise. Instead, the loss of tribal knowledge was staggering, undermining the trust employees and customers had in Workday’s leadership. It's a cheap win, with long-term implications that will resonate for a very long time.

Fun

The sense of fun that once defined Workday’s culture is gone. No amount of swag of branded merchandise—coffee cups, t-shirts, or jackets—can restore the spirit that was lost. Sorry, Carl, sending everyone a Flowbee won't help either.

Innovation

Innovation at Workday now seems fixated on AI, at the expense of improving user experience or addressing longstanding Brainstorm requests. At the Rising conference, I heard customers jokingly suggesting renaming the company “Workdai.” The focus on AI also ties to concerns about hiring practices, with allegations that AI-driven recruiting may have unfairly filtered out older applicants, as highlighted in the lawsuit.

Profitability

Under Carl, profitability appears to be the sole priority, overshadowing the other core values. Employees, customer service, integrity, fun, and innovation have all taken a backseat.

Reflection

Reflecting on this, I see parallels to Dave Duffield’s past. When he stepped down at PeopleSoft in 1999, he handed the reins to Craig Conway, whose leadership style diverged from Dave’s people-centric approach. Now, with Carl at Workday, history seems to repeat. Why would Dave and Aneel entrust their creation to someone whose approach seems misaligned with the original values? It feels like they stepped back to avoid the fallout of tough decisions.

Hi guys,

What would be the best way to set up a structure for laid-off people? My idea is to create a Sup Org Garden Leave with restricted visibility and move people there. Do I need to keep in mind something specific? Quite an urgent task I need to figure out how to approach in short notice, so I would appreciate any help or tips.

Thank you!

Hi all, most of the time - feel really lucky that I fell butt-backwards into the Workday ecosystem. I love that I'm constantly learning something new, its lucrative, and there are a lot of remote opportunities.
I would be lying if I said that sometimes I worry that I am pigeon-holing my career, though. I often think - what happens when Workday is no longer the "it" HR system? I have met others who have shared these sentiments. So, I've started to keep an eye on Workday's performance (as a company). After all, if Workday is doing well - its better for us too - right?

Given that Workday is a publicly-traded company, they are obligated to share their company performance on quarterly earning calls. I started to tune into these calls over the last couple of quarters and they are pretty interesting - has anyone else tuned in or read the press releases?

• Total revenues for this quarter were $1.79 billion (a 16.3% increase from Q2’2023)

• Workday Financials is gaining a lot of momentum in the market. Honestly, it seems to be making a bigger splash than the HCM product. So if anyone is looking to break into the ecosystem - Financials is probably the thing to pursue.

• Other hot areas such as Planning, Peakon, Extend, and Talent Optimization also gained traction this quarter. Workday deems these as "time-to-value solutions" and will continue to push these modules.

• Workday will continue to shift deployments to their partner ecosystem. To me, this means that they'll rely less on their own consulting teams (which means more $$ for their product team to improve functionality).

Anyone surprised by the above? Disagree with any of my points? I am curious to hear what others think about Workday's performance in the last quarter and how you feel about where it is headed.

I continue to summarize Workday's biggest focus areas over the next few quarters, if you're interested in learning more, checkout my newsletter: https://hrtechbites.substack.com/p/hr-tech-bites-issue-3

***PS:

• Workday is hosting a Financial Analyst Day on Sept. 27. I plan to attend and summarize findings in my newsletter, so feel free to subscribe if you want those updates!

• I'm also open to feedback on my newsletter. It has become a fun hobby - so if you find it helpful or want to see specific topics, I'm all ears :)

Basically saying no merit increases will occur this year as the company focuses on performing better in 2025 (with a new CEO). Is this a sign of lots of shifts or shall I just say it, layoffs?

edit: Appreciate all the responses!!!