Don't come here right out of college - Software Development Engineer Workday Employee Review

1.0
Sep 29, 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Easy to land a job right out of college as a software engineer Can easily go on cruise control if thats your thing Unlimited PTO Flexible wfh policy

Cons

Coming here right out of college as a SDE really set me back in terms of my skills and my career path. The biggest obstacle is using xpresso, workday's proprietary language that is specifically designed to make building workday application features very VERY easy. Try explaining xpresso during interviews - you will be met with a lot of confused looks. It is also a skill that isn't transferrable and it silos you as an engineer - you don't get exposed to the full SDLC nor do you get exposed to industry standard technologies and practices. Too many engineering managers are questionable at best. MANY of them do NOT know how to code, nor do they have technical knowledge of how software is developed. QA is a complete joke, many QA / automation engineers don't have engineering backgrounds, workday gets away with this because WATS (another proprietary tool) is a super straight forward GUI point and click tool to write test scripts...which is why if you want a career in engineering, you most definitely do NOT want to join as QA. Obviously, most of my cons are targeted towards career and skill development. Workday's hiring bar is INCREDIBLY low, don't be fooled by getting an offer from them while you are still in college. Also, due to their rapid hiring - their culture that they were once known for is also rapidly deteriorating, maybe the higher ups don't really care since the stock price has surged?

Explore other reviews about Workday

5.0
Jun 5, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great work life balance, great community and benefits

Cons

Forward mobility, growth, and momentum

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Workday Response
5d
Thank you for your review. We appreciate you taking the time to share your experience working at Workday. Our goal is to create an open and diverse culture at Workday and we value feedback like this as we strive to become an even better company for our Workmates!
2.0
Jun 10, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Flex work model- 50% in office Direct team is supportive- great people (hope they stay)

Cons

Constant churn in leadership and shifting priorities. Feels like we can’t get anything done. VPs and SVPs who only care about managing up. Vision is lacking Slow decisions and lots of layers of approval Women pushed out of leadership Feels like they are gaslighting people with talk of being employee first yet they hire leaders who do not live that value.

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