A massive software error hit America’s workplaces on Friday, causing Workday which is used by thousands of companies for managing pay, time off and benefits to completely break. Employees trying to access the platform saw error messages instead of their account.
It happened just one day after a huge Microsoft outage, so many workers are asking if the internet is falling apart.
What Happened to Workday
The incident occurred shortly after 5pm Eastern Time on Friday, November 13. The issue was quickly reported on Downdetector which is an outage tracker, with almost 3000 reports within a short amount of time. Some users saw a simple error message stating “Workday is currently unavailable”.
The company based in Pleasanton, California, said it placed some of its systems into “maintenance mode” while engineers worked on a fix. That left many workers unable to log in or finish tasks on their systems.
Workday also explained how the trouble started. It said a problem appeared during testing of its backup systems. The issue left some information in an inconsistent state, which could cause errors when people tried to use their accounts.
If we talk about backups, they are spare copies of data that a company keeps in case something breaks. Testing them is normal and smart. But here in this case though the test itself seems to have triggered the trouble.
The company promised that they would be providing updates every 30 minutes. Even so, they did not provide a time for everything going back to normal. By Saturday, some customers were still locked out, according to some sources.
Who Was Affected
The outage was huge, over 11,500 businesses were impacted. Large companies such as Walmart, Target, Netflix and government agencies were affected as workday is used by millions of employees on daily basis.
Most people use Workday for simple tasks such as clocking in/out, checking pay, requesting time off and taking training courses. This has made simple tasks more difficult.
Timing made things worse. Many companies use Workday for open enrollment, the short window when staff choose health and benefit plans. Workers who wanted to sign up on Friday night could not do it.
Workday also manages many firm’s payrolls. It is unclear if any paychecks will be delayed or not. Each employer will need to decide how they will manage this.
Workday have had smaller issues recently. On October 17th and November 9th there were brief increases in complaints on the tracking site. However everything returned to normal in around an hour. But this weekend’s failure was far bigger and lasted far longer.
The Microsoft Outage Earlier This Week
This incident came on the back of another major outage. On Thursday afternoon, November 12, Microsoft services went down globally. Outlook, Teams, OneDrive, Copilot and parts of Azure were all affected.
Some users were affected for over 18 hours. Microsoft 365 had the highest amount of reports, peaking at around 50,000 on the tracking site. Many offices were unable to send emails or attend video calls.
Microsoft later stated they were seeing positive progress with their recovery and email was returning. They also issued an apology and said it was a ‘technical issue’. They have yet to fully explain what has caused the issue.
What It Means, and What Happens Next
These two outages within 2 days is a strong reminder that we are heavily reliant on a few large software companies. Thousands of companies are immediately impacted when one goes down. This is often referred to as concentration risk by experts.
For employers it is a good reminder to have a back-up plan in place. Smart companies will have manual time sheets, a back-up for sharing payroll information or clear communication to staff.
Employees can also help by checking your pay details and time off once Workday is back up. If anything seems off, let your manager or HR team know straight away.
Keeping your own records can help. Save your last pay stubs, track your hours and note down any benefit choices you are going to make. This can save time if the system loses any data.
Some employers may extend benefit deadlines because of the outage. That decision, however, belongs to each employer, so ask your HR department directly.
On Saturday morning there were still hundreds of reports on tracking sites. A few pages had stated the service was back up, meaning it seems to be an uneven recovery.
Overall the main thing to consider is how quickly Workday can get their issues resolved. Many employers will want to know what went wrong with the back-up testing and if this can happen again. This is an important factor for a company who manage the paychecks for millions of people.
The fix is not a single step. It takes better testing, clearer warnings, and steady communication with customers when things go wrong.
Outages like this are rare, yet they never feel rare when your own login fails. The best advice is simple. Stay patient, keep records, and watch official updates from your employer and from Workday.
