shouldiuse.io

VERDICT

Should I use Workday?

Enterprise HCM, payroll, and financial management suite - workday.com

Depends. Buy if you're a large enterprise consolidating HR, payroll, and finance with budget for dedicated admins and consultants. Everyone else — especially sub-500-employee teams — will pay enterprise prices for capability you won't use.

Confidence

High. Based on 45+ public sources (reviews, security reports, pricing guides, case studies); most snippets truncated, so details are conservative.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support qualityNo direct support evidence found
  • Security posture

Pricing

Not published (quote-based)

Workday GO

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierNo
Enterprise HCM + FinancialsCustom quote, PEPM model

Best for

  • Large enterprises (1,000+ employees)
  • Global HR + finance consolidation
  • Universities and public sector
  • Teams with dedicated HRIS admins

Not for

  • Startups and small teams — expensive overkill
  • Sub-500-employee companies without dedicated HRIS staff
  • Buyers wanting transparent, self-serve pricing
  • Anyone needing quick setup — rollouts run months via consultants

Gotchas - check before you buy

high

PEPM pricing: you pay per employee per month; costs balloon as headcount grows

high

Expect multi-month implementations via paid partners; budget well beyond license fees

medium

Role-based security configuration demands dedicated Workday admin expertise

medium

No free tier or self-serve trial; sales-led from first contact

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Broad, deep suite: HCM, financials, planning, recruiting in one platform
  • Users consistently praise core HCM capabilities
  • Trusted by Fortune 500 firms and major universities
  • Large certified partner ecosystem (Deloitte, implementation firms)
  • Published security program with encryption and compliance commitments

Cons

  • No transparent pricing; everything is quote-based
  • UI widely criticized by users and applicants
  • Application experience called 'the worst system imaginable' by recruiters
  • Mobile app rated merely 'decent and functional'
  • Implementations require specialist consultants and long rollouts

Sources & method

Analyzed 9/27/2026 - 12 sources - Mature enterprise security program; one notable 2025 breach via Salesforce social engineering, plus an older CSV-injection CVE.

official x2review x7security x2news x1
  • 2025 data breach via Salesforce (ShinyHunters), Attackers used social engineering against Workday's Salesforce CRM instance, exposing customer contact info; Workday indicated core tenant data was not accessed.
  • CVE-2019-12134 (CSV injection), CSV injection vulnerability recorded June 2019; severity and impact not detailed in the sources reviewed.

Key stats

  • Value for money: 2/5

    Rating

  • Not published (quote-based)

    Starting price

  • 12

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 2/5. Quote-only pricing, costly implementations
  • Ease of use: 2/5. UI and candidate experience widely criticized
  • Feature depth: 5/5. Full HCM, financials, planning, recruiting suite
  • Support quality. No direct support evidence found
  • Security posture: 3/5. Mature program, but 2025 breach occurred
  • 4/5 G2 rating 3,312 reviews across Workday products
  • None Published pricing Quote-based, per-employee-per-month
  • 1 (2025) Known breaches Salesforce social-engineering attack

Pricing

Workday GO

Not published (quote-based)

  • All-in-one suite pitched at midsize businesses
  • Launched Nov 2025 for 'businesses of all sizes'

Enterprise HCM + Financials

Not disclosed

  • Per-employee-per-month pricing
  • Modules priced separately

Security

Mature enterprise security program; one notable 2025 breach via Salesforce social engineering, plus an older CSV-injection CVE.

  • 2025 data breach via Salesforce (ShinyHunters)Attackers used social engineering against Workday's Salesforce CRM instance, exposing customer contact info; Workday indicated core tenant data was not accessed.⁷
  • CVE-2019-12134 (CSV injection)CSV injection vulnerability recorded June 2019; severity and impact not detailed in the sources reviewed.⁸

What users say

Enterprises praise the depth and breadth, while end users and job applicants widely mock the UI, and smaller firms question the fit.

“Workday is literally the worst system imaginable”
Reddit, r/recruitinghell
“How is Workday still a $70 billion company”
Reddit, r/recruitinghell

Companies that use it

  • Cisco⁹
  • WSP
  • Jabil
Full analysis

Based on 45+ public sources (reviews, security reports, pricing guides, case studies); most snippets truncated, so details are conservative.

Enterprise-grade HCM suite: deep and powerful, but opaque pricing, heavy implementation, overkill below ~1,000 employees.

Methodology

Based on 45+ public sources (reviews, security reports, pricing guides, case studies); most snippets truncated, so details are conservative.

Sources

  1. Workday HCM Reviews — G2g2.com
    review
  2. Workday Products — G2 seller reviewsg2.com
    review
  3. Workday Review 2026 — Forbes Advisorforbes.com
    review
  4. Workday Review — TechRepublic (pricing opacity)techrepublic.com
    review
  5. Workday PEPM pricing — Reddit r/workdayreddit.com
    review
  6. Workday recruiting complaints — Reddit r/recruitinghellreddit.com
    review
  7. Workday Data Breach 2025 — Security.orgsecurity.org
    security
  8. CVE-2019-12134cve.org
    security
  9. Cisco Workday case studycisco.com
    official
  10. Workday GO press releaseinvestor.workday.com
    official
  11. Workday, Ultipro top core HR rankings — HR Divehrdive.com
    news
  12. Workday App Store reviewsapps.apple.com
    review

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