Workday lays off 1750 employees for artificial intelligence

Workday, a leading developer of HR platforms for enterprises, announced a massive staff reduction affecting 1750 employees, which represents 8.5% of the total workforce. This is the first major layoff in the history of the Silicon Valley company.

Workday CEO Carl Eschenbach explained in his memo to employees the necessity of the cuts due to new market conditions and plans to hire artificial intelligence specialists. Unlike other tech giants such as Meta and Microsoft, Workday had previously avoided large-scale staff reductions.

This news became part of a broader wave of layoffs in the tech sector. In recent days, several major companies announced cuts: Okta laid off 180 employees, self-driving taxi company Cruise reduced 50% of its staff, and Amazon made cuts in its sustainability department.

Workday’s restructuring decision reflects a growing trend in the tech industry to redirect resources toward artificial intelligence development, even if it requires painful staffing decisions.