The CEO has turned the company culture toxic - Anonymous employee Workday Employee Review

1.0
Jan 19, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- The benefits that haven't yet been taken away can be useful. - The ESPP scheme is a good way to earn a little more. - Generally the people you work with can be fun.

Cons

Honestly, the last few years since Carl has taken over have been incredibly tough and sad to see. He's been striving to destroy the employee experience at every turn to save a few pennies whilst simultaneously saying he cares and pretending to cry while he announces redundancies. Before he came along, Workday was a fantastic place to work with a lovely culture, since then it's been completely upended and is now just your average American corp where the executives are caricature businessmen who only care about their next quarterly earnings. Carl has been on an aggressive cost cutting exercise over the last few years with multiple rounds of redundancies. So much so that everyone now works in fear of being outsourced to India. I've personally had colleagues who have unknowingly trained their replacements out there before being let go. Morale is on the floor and with it has gone any form of creativity or innovation as no one wants to fail and be sent out the door. Promotions are being cut and employees now have to compete against each other for the few that get granted each year, being force ranked on each occasion. This has led to no one wanting to give recognition and a massive sense of mistrust around each other. Those who thought they had a future here are finding quickly there is none so are leaving in droves, however, there is also currently no backfilling of open roles so those that are left have to pick up the slack leading to burnout and being put into impossible situations with no hope of success. Employees are massively overworked all while some American executive keeps telling you to "do more with less" with the only reward at the end of the year being a round of redundancies. Overall, Workday has become a terrible place to work. They still market "employees" to candidates as a value trying to say they care but please do not be fooled by this, they haven't cared for a long time and while Carl is here they never will.

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
1mo
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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