Workday Accelerates Retail and Hospitality Momentum with New Customer Wins and AI Innovations for the Frontline

PLEASANTON, Calif., Jan. 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ: WDAY), the enterprise AI platform for managing people, money, and agents, today announced strong momentum in retail and hospitality, fueled by new customer wins and AI innovations designed to support frontline workers. More than 1,800 retail and hospitality companies worldwide, including Alterra Mountain Company, Brookshire Grocery, Hungry Jack, OSI Restaurant Partners LLC, Rainbow USA, Inc., and Zaxby's are using Workday to help them hire faster, boost operational efficiency, control labor costs, and better match staffing to customer demand.

By bringing HR and finance together on one platform, Workday gives retailers and hospitality companies a real-time picture of what's happening across their locations -- from scheduling, to how labor costs are tracking, to where extra support is needed. Teams can replace manual, disconnected processes with one streamlined experience. That means managers spend less time chasing spreadsheets and fixing schedules, and more time supporting their teams and serving customers. For frontline workers, it means simple, mobile tools that make it easy to check schedules, manage time off, get paid accurately, and grow their careers -- all in one place.

"Retail and hospitality organizations are changing quickly, with new customer expectations and evolving workforce challenges," said Keith Pickens, global managing director for retail, hospitality, and transportation, Workday. "Our customers want simple, flexible tools that work in the real world. The growth we're seeing shows that Workday is helping organizations run better stores, support their frontline teams, and adapt faster."

Elevating the Frontline Retail Experience

Organizations that rely on frontline workers are facing mounting pressure, with Workday research showing that 56% of organizations are experiencing higher-than-normal frontline turnover -- with nearly half expecting it to rise. To address this, Workday is expanding its frontline capabilities with tools designed for the realities of daily work in stores, restaurants, and guest-facing environments.

Workday's demand forecasting, part of Workday Scheduling and Labor Optimization, uses AI with historical sales, traffic, and staffing to help organizations better predict demand and build more accurate schedules. Once schedules are in place, Workday helps manage the constant changes that happen during the day. Early customers like Arcis Golf, Mister Spex, and Valvoline are already seeing strong results, including up to a 67% reduction in the time needed to create or update weekly schedules.

In addition, the Workday Frontline Agent will help handle last-minute shift swaps and hour limits by quickly routing requests and suggesting replacements. Early adopters have seen managers reduce the time spent on staffing changes by up to 90%, giving them more time to focus on customers and teams, while workers get faster responses and more predictable schedules.

"After a thorough evaluation, Workday stood out as the right platform to support Rainbow's ongoing transformation," said Vincent Damiano, CIO, Rainbow USA, Inc. "Beyond the technology, we selected Workday as a strategic partner whose innovation in workforce analytics and intelligent automation supports our move away from legacy processes and gives our leaders better insight to manage and scale our workforce more effectively over time."

Helping Retailers Hire Frontline Workers Faster with Paradox

Hiring remains one of the biggest challenges for retail and hospitality organizations, especially during peak seasons when speed matters most. With the acquisition of Paradox, Workday helps employers connect with candidates faster and simplify the hiring experience.

Workday Paradox Candidate Experience Agent and Paradox Conversational ATS are now available through Workday. Organizations like 7-Eleven, Inc. and Ace Hardware use these tools to streamline up to 90% of hiring tasks -- from screening to onboarding. By shifting to a fast, text-based experience, early customers have seen conversion rates surge above 70% and time-to-hire drop to as little as 3.5 days.

With Paradox, Workday can help retail and hospitality organizations move from job posting to first shift faster, improving the experience for both candidates and hiring teams.

"Our recruiters were spending too much time on manual scheduling and administrative tasks, pulling them away from the human connections that define our culture," said Stef Nikitas, director of talent acquisition, Ace Hardware. "With Paradox, we removed that administrative work and now screen candidates in minutes instead of hours, driving an 86% conversation rate."

Workday at NRF 2026

Workday will showcase its workforce management innovations -- including Workday Human Capital Management (HCM), Workday Scheduling and Labor Optimization, Workday Time Tracking, Workday VNDLY, and more, as well as its Paradox solutions, Frontline Agent, Payroll Agent, Financial Audit Agent, Deployment Agent, and more -- at the National Retail Federation's Big Show 2026. Attendees can meet Workday experts and explore live demonstrations at Workday booth #5057.

Availability

The demand forecasting functionality in Workday Scheduling and Labor Optimization will be available late January 2026. The Workday Frontline Agent will be available Spring 2026.

About Workday

Workday is the enterprise AI platform for managing people, money, and agents. Workday unifies HR and Finance on one intelligent platform with AI at the core to empower people at every level with the clarity, confidence, and insights they need to adapt quickly, make better decisions, and deliver outcomes that matter. Workday is used by more than 11,000 organizations around the world and across industries - from medium-sized businesses to more than 65% of the Fortune 500. For more information about Workday, visit workday.com.

© 2026 Workday, Inc. All rights reserved. Workday and the Workday logo are trademarks of Workday, Inc. All other brand and product names are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including, among other things, statements regarding Workday's plans, beliefs, and expectations. These forward-looking statements are based on currently available information and Workday's current beliefs, expectations, and assumptions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond Workday's control. If those risks materialize, assumptions prove incorrect, or business conditions change, actual results could differ materially from those implied in these forward-looking statements. Workday undertakes no obligation to update any such statements, except as required by law. Any unreleased services, features, or functions referenced in this document are subject to change and may not be delivered as planned or at all. Customers should make purchasing decisions based only on currently available services, features, and functions.

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SOURCE Workday Inc.