Organizations choose Dayforce by Ceridian to streamline HR, payroll, benefits, workforce management, and compliance on a single platform. It’s an all-in-one HCM system built for scale, used by leading employers across industries to modernize operations and deliver better employee experiences. But as with any enterprise-grade system, implementation is just the beginning. Without certified and experienced Dayforce professionals, many companies struggle to configure, maintain, and optimize the platform effectively.
Dayforce is complex. Modules like Payroll, Time & Attendance, Benefits, Scheduling, and Workforce Management each require in-depth product knowledge and compliance fluency. Whether you’re fixing pay rule logic, building union schedules, or integrating with ERP and GL systems, success depends on professionals who know how Dayforce works. And that’s where the real challenge begins.
Why hiring Dayforce talent is so challenging
Hiring for Dayforce roles is difficult for four key reasons: limited access to certified professionals, deep module specialization, regulatory complexity, and fierce competition.
- Limited certified talent pool: Ceridian controls who can access Dayforce training and certifications. Only clients and partners can sponsor certification, and most skilled professionals are already on projects or working as contractors. This creates a closed loop of talent that’s hard to reach through standard hiring channels.
- Specialization across modules: A certified payroll expert isn’t necessarily equipped to handle benefits setup, advanced scheduling, or workforce analytics. Organizations often need cross-functional expertise, but few candidates are trained across modules.
- Compliance and domain knowledge are critical: Payroll and HR systems are tied directly to labor laws, tax codes, union rules, and privacy regulations. Without experience in ACA, FLSA, GDPR, or provincial employment laws, system configuration errors can lead to costly fines or pay issues.
- High demand and turnover: With more companies adopting Dayforce, demand for certified talent far outpaces supply. Contractors often rotate through short-term roles, creating onboarding gaps, knowledge loss, and retention risks.
Core skills to look for in a Dayforce specialist
To drive value from your HCM, a Dayforce specialist must bring practical experience and regulatory insight. Here’s what to look for:
- Dayforce certification in required modules: Candidates should be certified in relevant areas such as Payroll, Time & Attendance, Workforce Management, Benefits, or Advanced Scheduling. Many mid-size and enterprise environments require multi-module experience.
- Configuration and rule-building expertise: Skilled in configuring pay groups, accruals, wage profiles, workflows, and compliance triggers. Should understand system behavior and logic at the configuration level.
- Integration and data exchange: Able to connect Dayforce with ERP, GL, benefits providers, and other third-party systems. Experience with API integration and file-based imports/exports is essential.
- Payroll and tax compliance: Deep understanding of payroll processing, remittance schedules, tax jurisdictions (U.S., Canada), and audit readiness. Should also be familiar with retro pay, garnishments, and off-cycle adjustments.
- Go-live and post-launch support: Hands-on experience with implementation, testing, parallel runs, training, and triage. Must be comfortable operating in high-pressure production environments.
- Regulatory compliance: Must understand employment regulations, collective agreements, and reporting obligations tied to timekeeping, pay transparency, and labor practices.
Hiring challenges in the real world
Even with the right job description, hiring certified Dayforce talent is slow and inconsistent. Most qualified candidates aren’t on job boards; they’re working through referrals, contract networks, or partner firms. Internal HR teams often don’t have access to Ceridian’s certification ecosystem, and it’s hard to assess skills without deep product knowledge.
Generic interviews won’t uncover real capability. You need hands-on assessments: for example, walking a candidate through how they’d configure a new pay rule for salaried non-exempt employees or troubleshoot a failed integration between Dayforce and a payroll provider.
Time-to-hire often stretches beyond 8 -10 weeks. And even when you secure someone, retention is a constant challenge. Certified professionals are in high demand and regularly get offers to jump projects unless they’re engaged with meaningful work.
How Procom Solves Hiring Challenges Across Industries
Procom delivers high-impact talent solutions across industries by matching expert professionals to mission-critical roles. Their placements directly improve speed, reliability, and delivery outcomes.
- In Technology & Software, Procom placed two Senior Full-Stack Developers at Dayforce with expertise in C#, .NET, and cloud platforms. These hires built scalable financial solutions that improved product performance and cut go-to-market time by 30%. A Senior DevOps Engineer was also placed to design Azure-based CI/CD pipelines and automate infrastructure with Terraform, reducing deployment time by 40%.
- In Finance & FinTech, Procom filled roles with developers skilled in secure coding and cloud architecture. These professionals delivered scalable, compliant financial products while minimizing manual deployment steps and operational risk. Their impact ensured smoother delivery pipelines and lower failure rates in production environments.
- In Retail & E-commerce, Procom deployed a QA Consultant to support a major retail client using Ceridian’s integration platform. The consultant implemented automated test frameworks using BDD and TDD, which improved code maintainability and reduced defect rates by 25%. This also strengthened traceability from product requirements to testing, increasing overall system reliability.
- For Enterprise IT, Procom provided an IT Director to lead the shutdown of 15 Active Directory domains. The $124K project was completed on schedule with zero downtime. Leveraging Smartsheet and a hybrid Agile/Waterfall model, the IT Director aligned stakeholders and managed technical risks effectively, ensuring a smooth transition.
- In Human Capital Management (HCM), Procom placed a seasoned Project Manager to oversee a large Dayforce implementation. The manager delivered all phases on time and within budget, increased team coordination, and reduced project rework by 20%. This ensured seamless integration with existing systems and higher client satisfaction.
Across all sectors, Procom’s strategic hiring directly solved operational gaps and delivered measurable results. To move faster and hire smarter, organizations need to rethink how they source, evaluate, and retain Dayforce talent.
Partnering with Dayforce-certified staffing firms like Procom gives you immediate access to pre-vetted professionals with proven expertise in payroll, workforce management, and benefits. These certified specialists are ready to contribute from day one, reducing ramp-up time and increasing project efficiency. Whether you’re preparing to go live, expanding into new modules, or optimizing underperforming configurations, Procom connects you with Dayforce-certified talent who can hit the ground running and deliver results fast.
