Workday 2026R2: What’s Changing in the User Experience?

Workday 2026R2 introduces several user experience changes across everyday HCM processes. The Worker Profile gets a new structure, Change Personal Information introduces a guided experience, and Change Job removes unnecessary steps from the initiation process.

Some of these changes will appear automatically, while others require an opt-in or configuration. Here’s what is changing and what to check before the Production Release on 19 September 2026.

What you need to know

• Worker Profile is changing automatically. A new header, collapsible navigation and separate Private and Public tabs will become available with 2026R2. You can opt out of the Private tab separately or opt out of the full profile modernization.
• Change Personal Information gets a new guided experience, but you need to opt in. It introduces a step-by-step workflow, redesigned field groupings, Quick Tips and a final review before submission.
• Existing Personal Information help text may need to be updated. Legacy field-level help text isn’t supported in the new experience and needs to be recreated using Quick Tips where required.
• Change Job initiation becomes shorter automatically. Workday removes the intermediary initiation page and waits to create an in-progress event until the user has completed the subprocesses and submitted.
• Training and guidance may need an update. Changes to screens and navigation can mean existing instructions no longer match what employees and managers see.

A new Worker Profile

The Worker Profile is one of the more visible changes in 2026R2. A new profile header displays location and contact information, while a collapsible side menu gives users another way to navigate their profile. Information is also split between two tabs. The Private tab contains personal information such as annual rewards, most recent pay and absence balances. The Public tab shows workers what their profile looks like when viewed by others.

Administrators can manage Worker Profile configurations through the System Admin Hub, under Navigation > Profiles. The change is automatically available. If you do nothing, the new Worker Profile will appear for your workforce. You can choose to opt out of only the Private tab while keeping the other profile changes, or opt out of Worker Profile Modernization entirely and return to the current experience.

Before Production, check the new profile from an employee perspective and decide whether the standard setup works for your organisation.

Change Personal Information gets a guided flow

Workday is also introducing a new experience for changing personal information on desktop and mobile. Unlike the Worker Profile changes, this feature requires an opt-in through Maintain Feature Opt-Ins.

Once enabled, employees move through a step-by-step process. Depending on your configuration, this includes active consent preferences, changing personal information and a final Review and Submit page. That final page shows the information as read-only and identifies what has been added, changed or removed before submission.

Fields are grouped into sections including Personal Information, Identity, Health and Wellness, Disability and Military Service, as well as country-specific sections. Which sections and fields appear depends on your configuration.

The new experience also applies when administrators edit personal information, when changes are approved or revised, when event details are viewed and when Change Personal Information is used during Onboarding.

Check your Onboarding setup

There is one condition to be aware of if you want to use the new experience during Onboarding.

Change Personal Information needs to be added as its own task within the Tasks step of the Onboarding business process. If it is consolidated with multiple tasks, such as Legal Name Change and Preferred Name Change, the new experience won’t be applied.

Review existing help text

The new Personal Information experience also changes how field-level guidance works. Legacy field-level help text configured through Maintain Personal Information Help Text isn’t supported once you opt in. Where that guidance is still needed, it needs to be recreated using Quick Tips. Existing section-level help text will continue to display.

Workday also adds information beneath fields including Date of Birth, Military Service, Pronoun and Sexual Orientation to explain how public profile preferences affect visibility. If you currently use field-level help extensively, include it in your review before opting in.

A shorter Change Job initiation

Change Job gets another user experience update in 2026R2.

For Change Job templates using the enhanced experience, Workday removes the intermediary initiation page that previously appeared before the main workflow. Users now go directly to the main Change Job business process, with relevant subprocesses appearing as they select Next.

Workday also waits until the user has completed the subprocesses and clicks Submit before creating the in-progress Change Job event. Previously, an event could already appear in the worker’s history before the full process had been completed. The change should reduce unnecessary or accidentally created in-progress events.

For Request Transfer through Recruiting, the Revise Job Change event now appears as view-only in the user’s inbox, with a Make Changes button.

There is also a change to Move to New Manager. If the selected worker isn’t currently a manager, Workday now shows a warning and a Move to New Manager button rather than redirecting the user to a separate task. This change isn’t available on mobile.

These Change Job improvements are automatically available. No setup is required, but existing training materials may need to be updated to reflect the new flow.

Three changes, three different actions

What should you check before 19 September?

For the Worker Profile, check how employees navigate the new layout and whether the Private and Public tabs work for your organisation. If you’re considering the new Personal Information experience, review your field configuration, Onboarding setup and existing help text before opting in.

For Change Job, run through the processes your managers use most often and check whether existing training or guidance still matches the new flow.

Workday 2026R2 reaches Production on 19 September 2026.

These updates affect several HCM interactions that employees and managers use regularly. Reviewing them in Preview gives you time to make configuration decisions and update user guidance before the release reaches Production.

Want to understand which Workday 2026R2 changes are relevant to your environment? Get in touch with SuccessDay to discuss your release preparation.