The software company Workday will chop more than 600 jobs in the East Bay — roughly one-third of its worldwide layoff plans — a wrenching cutback spurred by a push to scout for AI opportunities.
The company has disclosed plans to eliminate 1,750 jobs worldwide even as it hires workers who can help Workday mine potential goldmines in artificial intelligence, Workday revealed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Workday said it would jettison 617 jobs within the company’s headquarters in Pleasanton, California, according to a WARN letter Workday sent to the state Employment Development Department.
“The first termination at this site will occur on April 6, 2025,” Ruth Bolden, Workday’s director employment legal, wrote in the Feb. 5 WARN notice the company sent to the state EDD.
The layoffs in Pleasanton represent about 35% of the staffing reductions that Workday is planning worldwide. The 1,750 job cuts Workday is planning equate to 8.5% of the company’s global workforce, Workday Chief Executive Officer Carl Eschenbach stated in a Feb. 5 note to company employees.
“We’re at a pivotal moment,” Eschenbach said in the post. “Companies everywhere are reimagining how work gets done, and the increasing demand for AI has the potential to drive a new era of growth for Workday.”
Workday will hire an unspecified number of workers to focus on AI initiatives that are deemed to be promising for the tech company.
Artificial intelligence portends a “massive opportunity” for Workday, Eschenbach said. However, “some changes” will be required to align the company’s workforce with what customers are seeking.
“This means investing strategically, helping teams work better together, bringing innovations to market faster, and making it easier for our customers and partners to work with us,” Eschenbach stated in the open letter.
About two years ago, Workday orchestrated a much smaller round of job cuts.
In 2023, Workday eliminated 196 jobs in Pleasanton, according to a WARN letter the company filed at that time.
The current round of Workday layoffs in Pleasanton are being described as permanent.
Workday employees who lose their jobs won’t be able to displace other workers for the company, even if the people who are laid off have seniority over others.
“There are no applicable bumping rights,” Workday’s Bolden stated in the WARN letter.
It also appears Workday might attempt to sell or vacate an unknown number of existing work hubs, the company disclosed in the SEC filing.
“Workday expects to exit certain owned office space,” the company stated in the SEC filing.
Job cuts are on the horizon despite what appears to be a rosy profit outlook for Workday.
“Workday expects its fiscal 2025 fourth quarter and full-year financial results to be in line with or above its guidance as provided on its fiscal 2025 third-quarter earnings call,” Workday stated in the SEC filing. The company’s 2025 fiscal year ended in January 2025.
The layoffs, Workday insisted, won’t curb the company’s efforts to hire people as needed, especially in the promising AI field.
“While we are eliminating some positions, we will continue to hire in key strategic areas and locations,” Eschenbach stated in the open letter to Workday workers.
