The LMS Files: An Instructional Designer Investigates Workday’s Growing Presence in Higher Ed

I wasn’t looking for Workday. In fact, like most instructional designers, I had spent my career immersed in the familiar territory of Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle—LMS platforms that have long defined the digital classroom experience. You can imagine my surprise when Workday, a system I'd always associated with HR and payroll, began cropping up in job postings for instructional designers. It wasn’t a subtle shift, either. University job descriptions started mentioning Workday for Education as a "preferred skill," some even demanding Workday expertise alongside the usual LMS proficiency. Suddenly, Workday wasn’t just the software you submitted your timesheets through. This was something new. Something bigger.

A New Player in Town

It started with a single posting. A higher ed gig—great pay, great institution—except there it was: "Workday for Education proficiency required." I double-checked the listing, assuming it was an error. But it wasn’t long before I saw the same thing at the University of Oklahoma, Washington University in St. Louis, and then at Albany State University. They were advertising roles for instructional designers with Workday listed alongside the usual suspects. Not only was Workday showing up in LMS-heavy roles, but it was also emerging as a top-tier skill—one that could command competitive salaries. And the salary gap wasn’t insignificant. Jobs asking for Workday certification reported salaries ranging between $70,000 and $90,000, higher than those centered on Blackboard or Canvas.

"Workday’s integration helps streamline critical processes," Deloitte explained in a 2023 report on the future of higher education. "Fostering a more efficient and secure educational ecosystem" (Deloitte, 2023, p. 12). That’s the corporate line, of course. But I had to ask myself, what does this really mean for instructional designers? Were we being asked to trade our pedagogical expertise for admin-heavy systems integration? Or was Workday something else entirely?

And it wasn’t just for those looking to jump institutions. Even if you're not in the job market, it would be foolish to ignore what the job descriptions are calling out. In this business, you have to stay wise, or you risk being left behind. Keeping an eye on these developments is what all the smart cookies do.

The Usual Suspects

The first thing you need to know about Workday is that it’s not a learning management system in the traditional sense. It's not built for running classrooms, curating content, or engaging students the way Canvas or Blackboard do. Instead, Workday is an enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform. It manages the gears that make the university tick—HR, payroll, student financials, you name it. But now, Workday is trying on a new hat: learning management. The aim? To integrate everything—student records, faculty employment details, course management—into one unified system.

And here’s the kicker: universities are buying in. Workday doesn’t just show up in instructional design postings by accident. Higher ed institutions see its potential to bridge administrative and learning functions, bringing everything under one roof. As Workday boasted in a 2023 press release, "More than 70% of its higher education customers are live on the system," and they’re not looking back (Workday, 2023).

It’s not just administrative roles that are impacted, either. Instructional designers, long masters of course content, assessments, and faculty training, are now expected to integrate that work with the vast, labyrinthine world of enterprise software. Kron (2022) noted in a piece for the Higher Education Management Journal: "Workday’s unified platform enables universities to better coordinate between departments, leading to more efficient decision-making" (p. 8). But if you ask me, the decision-making process isn’t the problem. The real question is, can an LMS that started in the business world really manage the student experience as well as the numbers?

The Expanding Role of Workday in Higher Ed

What really sets Workday apart from traditional LMS platforms like Canvas or Blackboard is its ambition to manage everything—from student records to financials—all in one place. Workday Student covers the entire student lifecycle, while Workday for Education integrates administrative tasks like HR and payroll. In theory, this unified approach promises smoother operations and real-time analytics. But can an ERP that started in business really capture the nuances of student engagement? That’s the real question, and it's one that more universities seem eager to bet on.

A Skill in Job Listing That Won’t Quit

I couldn’t shake the thought that Workday was more than a passing trend. One instructional design job I came across was practically begging for someone who could "consolidate existing courses and integrate them into Workday Learning." This wasn’t some minor gig. This was the kind of position that, a few years ago, would’ve been all about Blackboard or Moodle. Now, Workday was at the center. The kicker? The listing highlighted the need for Workday certification, an unmistakable signal that institutions were betting on this ERP-turned-LMS.

Smith (2023) described Workday’s approach as “simplifying academic, employment, and financial processes," and added that "Workday’s lifecycle management tools empower students to manage their academic journey seamlessly, from enrollment to graduation” (p. 11). Seamlessly? Maybe. But managing a lifecycle isn’t quite the same as fostering engagement in a virtual classroom. I had my doubts.

The real rub came when I looked into a similar posting at Clemson University. They wanted instructional designers familiar with Workday, not just to create course content but to manage full systems integration. It was clear to me then that Workday wasn’t just an afterthought for HR—it was becoming a centerpiece of the educational technology ecosystem (Clemson University, 2024).

The Price of Proficiency

Workday’s growth in the education market brings with it a price. The demand for Workday expertise means that instructional designers are now expected to learn a system with complexities far beyond traditional LMS platforms. And let’s not forget the certification process—time-consuming, expensive, and a hurdle that separates the Workday novices from the experts. Sure, those leadership roles in instructional design might come with higher salaries, but they also come with increased responsibility. You’re not just designing courses anymore; you’re managing the full lifecycle of student data, administrative processes, and financial operations.

As EduTechnica (2023) pointed out, "Workday continues to gain traction in higher education, driven by its robust administrative and student management capabilities" (p. 15). But robust or not, there’s no denying that Workday is fundamentally different from the LMS platforms that instructional designers cut their teeth on. It’s not a case of one system replacing another. This is more like expanding the scope of what instructional designers are expected to manage.

Closing the Case

So, where does that leave us? Workday’s rise isn’t a mystery, but it is a significant shift for instructional designers like me. We’re no longer just course builders or faculty trainers. We’re becoming integrators of complex, administrative-heavy systems that, until recently, operated far outside our usual scope. The stakes in higher ed may seem small from the outside, but as Henry Kissinger famously said, "University politics are vicious precisely because the stakes are so small"—a line we’d do well to remember in the ever-competitive world of instructional design. You’ve got to stay sharp, keep your nose clean, and watch your back as the landscape shifts beneath you.

When I get access to Workday for Education, I'll report back about it with less mystery than all the cloak and dagger here.

In the end, Workday’s rise might not signal the end of traditional LMS platforms, but it’s certainly changing the way we think about them. How are you preparing for this shift? Are you seeing similar changes in your institution, and what steps are you taking to stay ahead?

#WorkdayEducation #WorkdayStudent #Workday #InstructionalDesign #HigherEd #LMS #ERP #HardBoiled

References:

Clemson University. (2024). Instructional Designer Job Posting. Teamed for Learning.

Deloitte. (2023). Deloitte and Workday: Empowering Higher Education Transformation to Elevate the Future of Learning.

EduTechnica. (2023). 11th Annual LMS Data Update: Workday’s Role in Higher Education.

Kron, A. (2022). How Workday Is Reshaping Higher Education. Higher Education Management Journal.

Smith, R. (2023). Workday for Higher Education: Enhancing Student Lifecycle Management. EduTech Insights.

Sun Technologies. (2024). Instructional Designer Job Posting. EdTech Jobs.

Workday. (2023). Workday Sees Continued Momentum in Higher Education.