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Workday Recruiting Has Got to Be the Worst Software

1 min read
rantstoolsrecruitment

Workday Recruiting has got to be the worst software and user experience in hiring. It’s not just because the interface is lackluster, but because of the decisions behind it and the sheer disregard for user feedback and complete inability to improve.

And wait until you see how much companies actually pay for it!

Annual cost for just the Workday Recruiting module (if they already have Workday Human Capital Management Software):

  • 1K employees: $50K - $192K/year
  • 5K employees: $240K - $552K/year
  • 10K employees: $480K - $1M+/year

And all that for:

  • 70% fewer applications
  • 60% candidates quitting mid-application
  • 18+ years of complaints (Business Insider: “Since 2006, Workday has been making a mint creating misery where painless processes could be.”)

I wonder if Talent and HR professionals actually enjoy using it?

It’s baffling to me that companies still use Workday when better alternatives like Greenhouse exist:

  • 1K employees: $20K - $40K
  • 5K employees: $40K - $70K
  • 10K employees: $70K - $180K

So a 5,000-employee company could save $200K - $500K/year and give candidates a decent experience.

I’m certainly not an expert and could be missing something. If anybody knows more, please share so I can stop wondering why there’s a “reason” behind the torture every time I come across a Workday portal asking me to create a new account for every company. Else, join me in this rant.

Disclaimer: Numbers sourced from AI-assisted research (OutSail 2025, Redress Compliance 2026, GetMonetizely 2025). I haven’t validated personally, so may not be 100% accurate. Get the idea though :)