A comprehensive enterprise HCM with deep talent, succession, compensation and planning capability, Peakon employee listening, recruiting with HiredScore and Paradox, Sana AI agents and a South African office.
Workday runs the enterprise. October People runs the people lifecycle, AI-first.
Workday is a comprehensive HCM used by more than 11,500 organisations, including over 65% of the Fortune 500, spanning HR, talent, recruiting, payroll and planning with its Sana AI. October People is an AI-first HCM on one employee record, connected to October Health and Advisory. Here is a fair comparison.
October PeopleOne record · 34 modulesWorkday
HR platformsIndependent comparisonNative Workday Payroll covers six countries, with partners elsewhere. South African EE and B-BBEE reporting needs confirming, and its positioning centres on large enterprises.
An AI-first record across recruitment with Cara, performance, careers, reward and planning, with B-BBEE, Employment Equity and SETA tooling and a connection to employee wellbeing through October Health.
What your HR team
actually gets.
Workday is a comprehensive enterprise HCM. October People offers an AI-first record across the employee lifecycle, with Cara-led recruitment, South African compliance tooling and a connection to October Health and Advisory.
Offered See detailsModules, plans and regional coverage vary, for both providers. Confirm scope for the countries you operate in.
Swipe across the table to compare both providers.
| Feature or service | October PeopleWhat you get — and why it matters | Workday |
|---|---|---|
| The employee recordCore HR, the employee lifecycle and time. | ||
| Employee records and documents | One record everything else runs onProfiles, contracts, documents, e-signatures, org charts, assets and an HR inbox. Why it mattersEvery module reads from the same current profile. | Core HR, worker profiles and org charts |
| Onboarding and offboarding | Every transition is a planStructured onboarding, offboarding, alumni and internal mobility. Why it mattersNew starters, movers and leavers follow a structured plan. | Workday Onboarding; confirm offboarding scope |
| Time, leave and attendance | Leave, shifts and clock-in in one placeLeave balances and planners, shifts, clock-in, schedules and billable time. Why it mattersManagers plan cover and approved time flows on to payroll and finance. | Time tracking, absence and scheduling |
| Performance and growthGoals, reviews, learning and careers. | ||
| Goals and performance reviews | Company to individual, in one cascadeGoals and OKRs, review cycles, calibration, 9-box talent grid, 1:1s and feedback. Why it mattersReviews, calibration and 1:1s draw on the same goals. | Performance reviews and talent calibration |
| Learning and development | Learning connected to the roleCourse catalogue, learning paths, live sessions, CPD, mandatory training and SCORM uploads. Why it mattersMandatory training and development paths sit on the employee record. | Workday Learning |
| Careers and succession | A next step for every employeeAI career coach, career roadmaps, development plans, succession and high-potential tracking. Why it mattersLeaders can see succession cover and high-potential talent. | Career growth, Skills Cloud, succession |
| Reward and engagementCompensation, payroll and employee feedback. | ||
| Compensation and benefits | Total rewards on one recordSalary benchmarks, job architecture, merit cycles, equity, benefits, expenses and payslips. Why it mattersMerit cycles and benefits use the same job architecture. | Compensation reviews and total rewards |
| Payroll | Keep your payroll providerOctober People integrates with payroll providers. It does not run payroll itself. Why it mattersApproved changes flow to payroll without re-keying. | Native in six countries; partners elsewhere |
| Engagement surveys | Feedback analysed by team and tenureSurvey builder, engagement and eNPS, pulse checks and AI analytics. Why it mattersSee where engagement is moving and follow up. | Workday Peakon Employee Voice |
| Planning, compliance and AIWorkforce planning, regional compliance, hiring and AI assistance. | ||
| Regional compliance | B-BBEE, Employment Equity and beyondB-BBEE, Employment Equity, SETA and CCMA; US I-9, ACA and EEO-1; ER cases and Speak Up. Why it mattersPrepare South African submissions from the same record. | Confirm South African EE and B-BBEE reporting |
| Workforce planning | Plan around current skills and capacityHeadcount forecasting, scenario planning, skills-gap analysis and budget planning. Why it mattersModel headcount and budget scenarios before you commit. | Workday Workforce Planning |
| Recruitment and ATS | Hiring on the same recordCara AI sourcing, 13 job boards in one click, visual pipelines, scorecards and hiring analytics. Why it mattersCandidates become employees without a second system. | Workday Recruiting, HiredScore and Paradox |
| AI assistance | AI built into every moduleCara, the career coach, 1:1 intelligence, manager nudges, meeting transcription and sentiment. Why it mattersEmployees, managers and HR get help in the flow of work. | Sana from Workday AI agents |
Based on public provider descriptions reviewed 31 October 2026. “Confirm” means the scope is not established by the linked sources.
Large, complex enterprises that want one vendor across HCM and finance, with the internal capacity to run a comprehensive enterprise suite.
Organisations that want an AI-first People platform across hiring, performance, careers, reward and planning, with South African compliance tooling and employee wellbeing support connected.
See October in contextQuestions,
answered.
Is October People an alternative to Workday HCM?
For many organisations, yes. Both hold the employee record and cover recruiting, onboarding, time, performance, learning, careers, compensation, surveys and planning. Workday is a comprehensive enterprise suite that also spans finance. October People focuses on the people lifecycle and connects to October Health and Advisory.
Does October People run payroll like Workday?
No. Workday offers native payroll in six countries and works with partners elsewhere. October People manages compensation, benefits, expenses and payslips and integrates with payroll providers so approved changes flow through without re-keying.
Can we migrate from Workday?
Yes. October imports employee data, documents and organisational structure, and integrates with 40+ HR and workplace systems, so you can run the shared record first and phase other modules in.
Does October People support South African compliance?
Yes. The compliance module covers B-BBEE scorecards, Employment Equity reports and plans, Workplace Skills Plans and Annual Training Reports, learnerships and CCMA case files. Confirm how any platform you evaluate handles these submissions.
How does AI compare?
Workday offers Sana AI agents across its platform. In October People, AI is built into every module, including Cara for recruitment, an AI career coach, 1:1 intelligence, manager nudges and meeting transcription.
Switching providers
Switching from Workday?
Moving your HR platform is about keeping one accurate record throughout, without disrupting payroll. Here is what a move to October looks like.
- 01
Import your data
October imports employee data, documents and organisational structure.
- 02
Phase the move
Run the shared record first and phase other modules in, rather than switching everything on one day.
- 03
Keep payroll connected
October People integrates with payroll providers and 40+ HR and workplace systems, so approved changes flow through without re-keying.
- 04
Scoped rollout support
Data preparation, migration, integrations, testing and training are scoped up front, with ongoing administration and adoption support.
In a 30-minute conversation we look at what you use today, what moves and in what order. A scoping conversation then sets out the package, delivery responsibilities and rollout plan.