Workday to cut roughly 400 customer support roles amid reorganization

Workday Inc. said it will eliminate roughly 400 positions, about 2 percent of its global workforce, as part of a reorganization of its customer operations, according to a regulatory filing disclosed Feb. 4–5, 2026. The reductions will fall primarily on “non-revenue-generating” customer-facing roles within its “Global Customer Operations” organization, the filing shows.

The company reported significant restructuring costs tied to the move. Published coverage of the filing cited “$135 million in restructuring charges,” with the largest portion, “roughly $80 million”, attributed to non-cash expenses related to office space and long-lived asset impairments. Workday also warned the changes would widen the gap between GAAP and non-GAAP profitability measures: it now expects fourth-quarter GAAP operating margin to be 24 to 25 percentage points lower than its non-GAAP operating margin, and full-year GAAP operating margin to be 22 to 23 percentage points lower.

Workday said the reorganization is intended to realign resources behind its “highest priorities” and to free capital for strategic investments. The company told investors it plans to continue hiring throughout fiscal 2027 in “key strategic areas,” including “revenue-generating positions,” even as it shrinks its customer-support headcount. The filing projects the reorganization will be “substantially complete by the first quarter of fiscal 2027.” A Workday spokesperson “declined to comment beyond the filing,” according to Business Insider.

The announcement landed amid broader market turbulence for enterprise software names. Business Insider reported that “Workday shares down about 34% from a year ago,” underscoring investor sensitivity to both macro pressures and technology shifts. Some coverage framed the cuts in the context of artificial intelligence. Bloomberg, cited by other outlets, described the layoffs as part of an artificial intelligence-driven workforce restructuring. By contrast, Business Insider noted plainly that “Workday didn't cite artificial intelligence in its filing as a reason for the layoffs.” Social commentary reflected the split: one LinkedIn excerpt read, “The announcement doesn't mention AI, but it's tough not to see the context.”

This is the second major round of reductions at Workday in just over a year. Reporting varied on the precise scale of last February's cuts: one account said the company eliminated around 1,750 jobs, or about 8.5 percent of its workforce, while another put the prior reduction at roughly 1,600 jobs, or 8 percent. Workday had more than 20,400 employees as of Jan. 31, 2025, spread across 34 countries, with approximately 63 percent based in the United States, according to earlier filings and reporting.

Public disclosures accompanying the Feb. 4–5 filing did not provide an itemized geographic breakdown of the roughly 400 positions or detailed role titles and seniority levels, leaving open questions about regional impacts and service continuity. TechRepublic noted the company did not address whether it plans to offset the headcount cuts with increased automation, outsourcing, or other changes to its customer support model.

Workday framed the move as a strategic reallocation of resources to sharpen focus on growth areas while trimming parts of the business it defines as non-revenue-generating. For customers and employees, the immediate effects will depend on how the company balances reduced support staffing with planned hiring in revenue-generating and strategic functions.