Pros
It's a huge company. There are a lot of opportunities here. Some are better than others. And there are a lot of interesting people. When you read the other reviews and find something really positive or really negative - they both could be true. In a company of this scale your immediate team/project/manager may have more impact on your personally than "the average" company culture. Yes, not everyone gets lucky to find a golden nugget, but some people do and Workday still has a lot of golden nuggets to be found. While Workday is becoming a typical large corporation with a lot of doublespeak, paranoid restrictions to prevent liabilities (hey, what have you done to our coveted Halloween party? With all new restrictions like now power extenders, nothing too scary, etc - a lot of top teams from the past years just took this year off completely. It was probably middle school grade level this year with a bunch of paper decorations hanging on PVC pipes... Really!?), it still has some really good values. It does value families. If you need to take a day off or adjust your schedule because of your kids - they managers do accommodate. It helps students to start their careers. It values the customers. I can keep this list going.
Cons
Having said all these good things about Workday, why do I have so negative opinion about Workday? Because it is really frustrating. Yes, it's a nice workplace with a lot of meant-to-be-right statements. But do they make workers happy and satisfied? Based on what I see around me the answer is predominantly No. There is a lot of dissatisfaction and frustration in the air. Why? People want to make a difference with what they do. For the most of us it is not an option. We are given confusing directions, no clear planning, no clear goals or metrics. We do a lot of work but a lot of that work is pointless and feedback is not welcome. Then the tools. Just imagine how a good cook would feel being asked to prepare a dinner with a dull knife. Think about it. Imagine a ripe tomato in your hand and a dull knife and instead of slicing it nicely you get that ugly squashed red mess. Would it be frustrated? Or yeah! This is how we feel here every day. Or basic internal ticketing system is having issues. Our builds are failing. Our internal language is so weird - a lot of people see it as a career dead-end-move. Then the policies. The "do what I say not what I do" mentality is everywhere. We have a very few documented processes and procedures and they are routinely violated. Career path. Some people do get promoted. I just don't know how and what to do to be promoted. Can someone tell us? The the compensation. It is below the market. In the early days it was all about we are going to build a successful company and it's going to pay off. Now we've built a company and guess what? We need to be profitable ... One reason after another, but our compensation stays low. Finally, the overall "doublespeak" from the top managers. Back in the days we had open door policy. With a very few exceptions It was ok to go to meetings you're not invited to and learn what is going on. Skipping levels of management was ok. Talking to your bosses boss was normal. Now all those things are gone. We see things go wrong and the answer now is secrecy and obscurity. It all adds up.
