Abusive Rhetoric Behind a Shiny Veneer - Software Development Engineer Workday Employee Review

2.0
Nov 17, 2022
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

All the usual shiny perks of a Large Tech Company(TM).

Cons

Here's some of the inspiring messages you'll hear from leaders in the company, 1-on-1: "There's no place better than Workday" "Why would you ever want to leave Workday?" "Other companies are so much worse than Workday, let me tell you about a story from my time at Oracle...." (Oracle Transplants Abound) "Workday is the best place you'll ever get." "I don't care what you do, I only care about what you give to the team." "You can not expect your manager to have your personal needs in mind, you are the only person who is responsible for yourself." "What, you don't wanna help other co-workers? C'mon, speak." "Your 5 year career plan can also include personal goals, like family planning." (yes, this was a female employee this was said to, yes this was right when roe v wade was dominating the airwaves) "I can't handle the panic attacks anymore." "Do you ever cry in the parking lot, before coming into the office?" If you're not in the in-crowd, it is a terrible, lonely work experience. If you join a diversity group to try and find belonging, you also find a bunch of peers burnt out; individual employees try to carry diversity initiatives with little-or-no support from the higher ups. Other coworkers will push back and cry about a "Wokeday Takeover", all while leadership is predominantly white men. Technical and product vision is haphazard, as career-directors use departments as promotion opportunities. For how much proprietary technology the entire company is built on, there is very little investment into it by leadership. Company-wide initiatives will get hyped up for 6 months and then fade into obscurity for another 18. This wasn't as big of a deal years ago, but now they perform "quiet layoffs", that sit under the mandatory reporting minimum, when a big re-org occurs. The hectic nature of org structure also means transfers are much harder than in the past (keep a tally of how many internal req's you apply to get nixxed mid-process). Anyone with any past history of trauma or abuse need to be EXTREMELY wary when interacting with anyone in leadership. Their culture and rhetoric takes advantage of trauma-altered minds, whether it's unintentional or not, and makes you feel like you can't do any better than where you currently are.

Explore other reviews about Workday

5.0
May 28, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good culture and product, pay is nice

Cons

Not too many to think of

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Workday Response
2w
Thank you for sharing your experience at Workday. It is fantastic to hear you've enjoyed the culture. We are pleased to hear life as a Workmate is a good one!
2.0
Jun 24, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great culture at the peer to peer level. Excellent learning opportunities, good benefits and great name for resume.

Cons

Pretend to be transparent but a lot of smoke & mirrors. Significant cuts to comp plans & commissions that resulted in challenging pay cuts. While salaries were not reduced the OTE is no longer achievable and it’s a difference of thousands monthly, can’t even sell stock because it’s tanked. That being said, we’re disappointed in comp and stock but grateful to be employed because It’s no longer a matter of if you’ll be laid off but when.

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