Imagine a situation where you clock in for your shift or try to squeeze in some last-minute benefits paperwork, and the company’s entire human resources portal vanishes. That was the reality for workers everywhere when a major software glitch took down Workday, a platform used by more than 11,500 businesses worldwide.
A Friday afternoon digital headache
The widespread technical trouble kicked off on a Friday shortly after 5 p.m., when Downdetector recorded nearly 3,000 outage reports for the platform. Because companies rely on Workday for daily operations, the disruption quickly turned into an administrative roadblock. Employees found themselves unable to clock in or out of work, request time off or even tackle mandatory training programs.
Big corporations and governments take the brunt
The platform is used by a massive roster of household names and major institutions. Corporate giants like Walmart, Target, General Electric, Morgan Stanley, Netflix and Southwest Airlines all utilize the platform. Municipal governments in cities like Seattle, Dallas and Philadelphia rely on it as well, alongside federal groups like NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Shutdown culprit and working toward a fix
According to reports from the San Francisco Chronicle, the glitch surfaced while the company was testing its backup systems.
As frustration mounted online, a Workday spokesperson issued a statement acknowledging the service disruption.
“Some of our customers are experiencing a service disruption and we’re working urgently to investigate and resolve the issue,” the representative said, offering sincere apologies for the challenges caused.
Workday has not provided a firm estimate on when the platform will be fully back online. In the meantime, workers across thousands of businesses are getting an unexpected breather from their daily tasks.
Source: LiveNOW from FOX, San Francisco Chronicle