OneSource Virtual blog

Workday Rising kicked off in Las Vegas, October 12-15, with CEO Aneel Bhusri describing the company’s push into agentic AI as a “re-founding.” Having reinvented HR and finance software for the 21st century and maturing into a Fortune 500 company, it was time for Workday to think like a startup again.

Absence management wasn’t always as difficult as it is now. In the past, when an employee requested time off, a manager approved it, HR tracked it, and payroll adjusted accordingly. But things are more complicated now, with today’s patchwork of federal, state, and local leave laws; rising leave-of-absence rates; and the operational complexity that comes with multistate or hybrid workforces. Absence management is now its own discipline and carries real consequences when handled poorly.