Workday's third cut in 20 months takes 525 product and technology jobs, from a CEO who says AI tools will keep headcount flat

Workday told the SEC on 29 September 2026 that it is eliminating about 2.5 percent of its workforce, roughly 525 of some 21,000 people, primarily within its Product and Technology team, alongside cuts to leased office space. The filing gives the reason as aligning team structures with the company's strategic growth priorities, puts the cost at 65 to 85 million dollars, and says hiring continues in key strategic areas. It does not mention AI. It is the third round in twenty months. In February 2025 Workday cut 1,750 people, 8.5 percent, and then-chief executive Carl Eschenbach's memo said the company was prioritising innovation investments like AI. In February 2026 it cut about 400, 2 percent, mostly in Global Customer Operations; Eschenbach left a week later and co-founder Aneel Bhusri returned as chief executive. On the May 2026 earnings call Bhusri said he wants headcount close to flat through fiscal 2027 as employees use Workday's own and third-party AI tools, and finance chief Zane Rowe credited margin gains to productivity from those tools across R&D, customer success and go-to-market. That is the connection, and it is the employer's, not ours: the company that sells AI agents to HR departments has told investors AI productivity is why its own headcount will not grow, and the team now being cut is the one that builds the agents. Because the filing for this round attributes nothing to AI, no impact event is recorded and the 525 jobs are not in the verified count. Workday has not commented beyond the filing.