Published: 18 August 2026
Author: Lucy McLennan, Preos
In the 2026 R2 release, Workday retires the legacy Change Job screen and moves everyone to the Enhanced UI. As part of that, Workday converts your Change Job setup to templates and builds them for you if you do not already have them. The conversion is automatic; it goes live in production on 19 September, and once it happens, you cannot reverse it.
Change Job is one of the most common transactions in Workday, so this reaches almost everyone. I have reviewed the conversion in client Preview tenants, and these are the key items to check before go-live.
What’s changing
With this release, Workday switches your Change Job setup to templates. If you do not use templates yet, it creates them for you.
Workday determines what to build based on your current business process security, and that decision drives everything that follows.
If you do not have an active Change Job Initiating Action template, Workday also converts your existing domain security, mapping domain security groups to Configure Optional Fields and unconstrained role-based security groups to Maintain Functionality for Staffing Transactions.
What you can’t undo
Once Workday creates these templates, you cannot delete them or make them inactive. So if the conversion builds something you did not want, it stays in your system.
This is why your security settings matter so much. Workday creates templates from the initiating actions on your BP security. If you still have security on an initiating action you no longer use, such as Change Location, Workday creates a template for it all the same.
In my Preview reviews, I have found tenants still carrying security for Change Location. It is easy to miss because the security often looks standard.
For teams already on templates
If you already use templates, you may assume that no further action is needed. However, this is often not the case. Recruiting and probation processes feel this most.
Internal Job application moves and probation outcomes that trigger a job change behave differently depending on whether the organisation changes. In practice, you need two templates: one for Change Job and one for Request Transfer. Most organisations hold only one. If you leave this unaddressed, these processes can convert in ways you did not expect, and you may only spot it after go-live.
What to do in Preview
You have until production on 19 September to make any necessary changes, and you should run all your testing in Preview.
If you do not use templates yet, take this chance to set up the structure you want rather than accept the default conversion. Use Preview to see what Workday creates, make your changes, then test and deploy before 19 September.
If you already use templates, focus on these areas:
- Check for templates created for actions you do not use, like Change Location or Change Contingent Worker. These templates are often unexpected and cannot be removed.
- Review your recruiting and probation processes and check whether you need a Change Job template and a Request Transfer template (Workday will have created these during the conversion if you don’t already have them today).
- Compare your templates before and after the conversion to see exactly what Workday has changed or added.
- Review your domain security and Configure Optional Fields setup. Workday gives you a before-and-after report to help with this review. If you already use a Change Job Initiating Action template, update any optional fields as needed. This conversion consolidates field security so that it sits within only two domains: Change Job Date and Reason, and Staffing Organisations: Header. Field visibility is now controlled in Configure Optional Fields rather than in individual staffing domains, so review it carefully: fields such as Business Title may become visible and may need to be hidden there.
- Address issues at the source. Because your business process security determines which templates are created, most changes will likely need to be made to your BP Security policy. Getting this right in Preview will give you the results you want in production.
Remember, while you might want to adjust what fields sit in your templates, the bigger focus is on your security settings.
Our Workday Enhancement Services team supports clients through every release, and we have already run these Preview comparisons and know where the common problems sit. If you would like support with this before September, get in touch with the Preos team.
Whatever you decide, do not let 19 September be the first time you see what the conversion does to your tenant. Preview is the only place to catch it, and the window closes at go-live.
Further reading
Case Study: The IFCO Journey with Workday Enhancement Services
How IFCO reduced reliance on AMS support, strengthened internal Workday capability and moved towards a more proactive, self-sufficient support model.
Beyond Feature Releases: Turning Workday updates into business outcomes
How to turn Workday’s twice-yearly releases into real business value by prioritising the right updates, improving adoption and building stronger internal capability.
A guide to Workday’s new commercial model: Platform Entitlement and Flex Credits explained
Everything you need to know about the model, including the contractual framework, Platform Entitlement and Flex Credits, how they connect, what to do now and what is still undefined.