Resolved clauseShareholders request that Workday disclose its employee retention rates by all categories the Company is required to track under applicable laws, such as veteran status, age, gender, race, and disability status at reasonable cost and excluding proprietary information.
Whereas clauseWorkday Inc (Workday) states that “We are committed to welcoming varied perspectives, experiences, and thoughts to drive creativity and problem-solving—crucial ingredients for leadership in a rapidly evolving landscape defined by AI, technology, and data. We understand that the pursuit of representation is a transformative journey that demands resilience, persistence, and a commitment to continual improvement. We are dedicated to this long-term effort, knowing that the hard work we invest in today will yield a more balanced, equitable, and innovative future.” It also states “Workday’s success starts with our people … Because when our employees thrive, Workday thrives … Our employees are our number one core value and our greatest asset.”[1] It also notes in its 10-K, “… employees are our number one core value,” and, “To execute our growth plan, we must attract, enable, develop, and retain highly qualified talent.”[2]
Workday sells human resources’ tools to recruit, hire, train and retain workers. Its products and services are being used by client companies to design, implement, and monitor their human capital management strategies. Workday’s own 2024 global survey found that diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts remained a priority for 2,600 executives, with many companies increasing budgets and considering AI and other services Workday provides.[3] Two-thirds of respondents had said that the demand of these programs were internally motivated and sat outside of political pressure.
Yet, Workday is not modeling the use of the solutions it provides to the marketplace. It does not disclose whether it is actually succeeding in retaining its own talent particularly across different demographic groups. This lack of transparency prevents investors from evaluating a material driver of the company’s brand, risk exposure, performance, and long-term value creation.
As employees leave, they take with them institutional knowledge, customer relationships, and process memory. High employee turnover also imposes recruitment, onboarding, and training costs. Gallup estimates employee-related turnover costs at 80% of annual salary for professionals in technical roles.[4]
In contrast, when a business retains employees, resources are freed up for customer service and investment in growth. Reducing separation rates also allows more investment per employee (training, development, cross-skilling) and the ability to build and deepen employee skills over time. Strong retention signals a healthy internal culture where employees have confidence in the future of the company.
Employers such as Microsoft, Visa, Procter & Gamble, Bank of America, Netflix, and Pfizer disclose retention or attrition data by demographic group. In total, more than 250 companies disclose retention rates by gender and over 70 report them by race.
[1] https://www.workday.com/content/dam/web/en-us/documents/other/workday-global-impact-report.pdf
[2]https://app.quotemedia.com/data/downloadFiling?webmasterId=101533&ref=318999448&type=HTML&symbol=WDAY&cdn=e97899deca2c055abdc0974b28d33c21&companyName=Workday+Inc.&formType=10-K&dateFiled=2025-03-11
[3] https://blog.workday.com/en-us/workday-dei-landscape-report-business-leaders-remain-committed-2024.html
[4] https://www.gallup.com/workplace/646538/employee-turnover-preventable-often-ignored.aspx