HR software vendor pushes cross-selling as modest workforce growth exposes vulnerability of per-seat pricing

Workday is confronting a troubling reality. Customers aren't hiring much and some are actively cutting staff. The solution? Cross-selling to squeeze more revenue per user out of its installed base.

The SaaS finance and HR company posted a 12.6 percent year-on-year rise in revenue to $2.4 billion for Q3 of its fiscal 2026 ended October 31. Net income jumped to $252 million, up from $193 million.

Subscription revenue and forecasts met expectations, but Wall Street still wanted more, and Workday's share price fell about 7 percent.

CEO Carl Eschenbach said the company had added new customers and expanded deployments within companies such as Levi Strauss and Novartis. However, as in recent quarters, customer headcount levels "continue to grow modestly."

Since Workday's revenue model depends on per-employee seat licenses, stagnant or declining customer headcount directly threatens growth.

Under questioning, he said the headcount of Workday's ...