Workday HCM connector FAQ
This page answers frequently asked questions about the managed Workday HCM connector in Lakeflow Connect.
General managed connector FAQ
The answers in Managed connector FAQs apply to all managed connectors. Keep reading for Workday HCM-specific FAQs.
Connector-specific FAQ
The answers in this section only apply to the managed Workday HCM connector.
How does Databricks connect to Workday?
Databricks connects to Workday using HTTPS. Credentials are stored securely in Unity Catalog and can only be retrieved if the ingestion user has met the permission requirements. Databricks recommends creating a separate user in Workday for Databricks ingestion.
Which Workday modules does the connector support?
The Workday HCM connector supports Workday Human Capital Management (HCM). To ingest Workday Reports-as-a-Service (RaaS) data, use the Workday Reports connector instead.
How is the Workday HCM connector different from the Workday Reports connector?
The Workday HCM connector ingests raw HCM data such as workforce and payroll data, with no report configuration required in Workday. The Workday Reports connector ingests Workday-built reports using RaaS.
Which Workday objects are supported?
The Workday HCM connector supports the Workers and Payroll objects. To ingest data from custom Workday-built reports, use the Workday Reports connector instead.
What is automatic unnesting, and why does it matter?
Workday raw data is deeply hierarchical with nested structures that are difficult to query directly. The HCM connector automatically flattens this data into structured, query-ready tables with no configuration required. Each source table corresponds to one raw destination table (for example, workers_raw) and one or more unnested materialized views (for example, workers and worker_positions).
Does the connector support raw Workday data?
Yes. Unlike the Workday Reports connector, which ingests pre-aggregated reports, the HCM connector directly ingests raw HR data with no report configuration required in Workday.
Does the connector support custom fields or tenant-specific objects?
No. The connector doesn't support custom fields or custom objects.
As a workaround, use the Workday Reports connector. Because the Workday Reports connector allows you to control your own report definitions in Workday, you can include any custom or tenant-specific fields in a report, which the connector ingests as they are. The tradeoff is that the Workday Reports connector requires report configuration on the Workday side, whereas the HCM connector ingests raw data with no setup required.
Does the connector support Workday Financials?
No. The Workday HCM connector doesn't support Workday Financials. If your Workday Financials data is accessible through Workday RaaS, use the Workday Reports connector as a workaround.
Does the connector support column selection?
No.