Why you might not get a confirmation email
Workday sends confirmation emails only if the employer has configured their system to do so — and many haven't. Confirmation emails are an optional setting that each company controls. A significant number of large employers disable them entirely, either to reduce inbox noise on the recruiter side or because they simply haven't set it up.
Your missing confirmation email is almost certainly not a sign that your application failed. It just means this employer doesn't send them.
How to verify your application went through
Step 1: Check your spam folder. Some legitimate Workday confirmation emails get flagged as promotional or spam. Search for "workday" or the company name in your spam folder.
Step 2: Log back into the Workday candidate portal. Go to the company's careers page → sign in → find "My Applications" or "Candidate Home." If your application appears there, it went through regardless of whether you received an email.
Step 3: Look for the "already applied" indicator. If you try to navigate back to the job listing and apply again, Workday will typically block you with a message saying you've already applied to this requisition. This is confirmation.
Step 4: Check your Workday account email address. Some companies use a separate Workday instance with a different login. Make sure you're checking the email address you used when creating your candidate profile.
What to do if you genuinely can't confirm
If the job listing still shows the full application form (not blocked) and you can find no trace of your application in the candidate portal, your application may not have submitted correctly. This can happen due to a network timeout during the final submission step — Workday's final step can be slow, and clicking the button twice or navigating away too quickly can interrupt it.
In this case: re-apply if the role is still open. If it was a role you really wanted and you're concerned about appearing twice in the system, send a brief note to the company's recruiting email explaining the situation.