Constant shuffle, old tooling, and years waiting for a promotion - Software Engineer Workday Employee Review

2.0
May 1, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Great people - Great office spaces - Great wellness initiatives - Great environmental consciousness

Cons

I had a great first couple years at this company although the XO backend made it very difficult to hire new developers and get things done. I enjoyed coming to work and solving problems. I hoped this would be the place I could work for many years to come. Then the re-orgs started. At first, it was once or twice a year. But for the past 2-3 years, it's been much more. The upper management has been disorganized. Every few months, they make a huge pivot. Great coworkers and managers have been laid off, even amazing managers getting laid off while on medical leave. I've been re-orged 4x in the past year. The first time, they wouldn't tell us our project was discontinued; we just woke up one Monday with an Outlook invite -- "Come to this meeting and work on this new project". Two months later, a manager finally admitted that my team's 5 years of work had been "de-prioritized." Managers have told me I was operating at a higher level for the past 4 years, and I met every one of the criteria on the promotion sheet. But even though I was put up for promotion, I never received it. I -- along with many others -- kept being shuffled to new departments and the new department says, "Sorry, we don't have enough slots and we already picked who is getting promoted." My new manager -- third one this year -- wants me to go up for a promotion again next year. I feel pretty dis-heartened about spending any more time on that. I am receiving less stock also, so I am effectively making less money than I was 5 years ago despite having much more responsibility. The most painful thing about this is the mis-match between how Workday management presents themselves and their actions. Workday has always called itself "the Workday family" and everyone is always doing things for charity and each other. But Management decisions are not held to any standard. Management decides to axe people's work with no explanation and then asks in a weekly survey how our wellbeing is. They decide to re-org us multiple times and then asks us if Workday is a "fun" place to work. We deal with financial stressors because of the decisions to not promote and pay fairly for our work -- and they ask on a scale of 0-10 how we'd recommend Workday to a friend.

Explore other reviews about Workday

5.0
Jun 19, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Work life balance is very good

Cons

Too much org level changes

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Workday Response
2w
Thank you for sharing your experience at Workday. We're delighted to know that you've been making the most of your time with us and have been benefiting from a good work-life balance. This feedback is incredibly valuable as it helps us provide an even better working experience and benefits for our Workmates.
3.0
Jun 29, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Excellent engineering talent and knowledgeable coworkers. Strong engineering culture with high code quality standards. Modern technology stack and opportunities to work on large-scale enterprise software. Good work-life balance compared to many tech companies. Competitive compensation, benefits, and employee perks. Collaborative environment with supportive teammates. Opportunities to learn new technologies and grow technically. Stable development processes and mature SDLC practices. Strong emphasis on testing, code reviews, and software quality. Flexible work arrangements (depending on team).

Cons

Large organization means decision-making can be slow. Significant amount of process and bureaucracy before changes reach production. Cross-team dependencies can slow delivery. Career growth can depend on organizational priorities and manager support. Frequent reorganizations can shift priorities and disrupt long-term projects. Innovation may move slower than at smaller startups. Internal tools and processes can sometimes feel overly complex. Communication between teams can occasionally be inconsistent. Like much of the tech industry, the company has experienced layoffs, creating uncertainty for some employees. Promotions can take time and require navigating multiple approval levels.

1
avatar
Workday Response
1w
Thank you for your thoughtful review. We're aware that there's always room to grow, but at Workday, we take pride in our dedication to our Workmates and the 'employee first' ethos we've embedded since day one. We value your feedback as well as the praise you have provided in your review.
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