Automating seat assignment for new hires

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Automating Seat Assignment for New Hires

    The automated seat assignment feature in ServiceNow integrates HR Service Delivery and Workplace Service Delivery to streamline workspace assignments for new hires. This automation links HR onboarding with workplace assignment tasks, ensuring a seamless transition for new employees into their work environment.

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    Key Features

    • Integration of Services: Combines Workplace Case Management and Journey Designer for efficient onboarding.
    • Automation in Pre-boarding: Automatically assigns workspaces based on employee details during the pre-boarding phase.
    • Configuration Requirements:
      • Install necessary plugins in the correct order, including Journey Designer and Workplace Space Management.
      • Configure the snwsdcore.ALLOCATIONTYPE property to guide space assignments based on specific criteria.
    • Case Management: Creates a workplace case for location assignment that can be monitored by managers and employees.

    Key Outcomes

    By implementing this feature, organizations can expect:

    • Streamlined onboarding processes with automated workspace assignments.
    • Improved visibility for managers and employees regarding workspace status through the Employee Center.
    • Effective handling of cases where no suitable workspace is found, allowing manual interventions when necessary.
    • Prompt communication of location details to new hires and their managers upon assignment completion.

    Use HR Service Delivery and Workplace Service Delivery to automatically assign a seat for the new hires in your organization.

    The automated seat assignment feature integrates Workplace Case Management and Journey designer to connect HR onboarding activities with workplace assignment. The pre-boarding activity in the onboarding lifecycle event contains an activity to automatically assign a workspace (seat or neighborhood) to new employees.

    Configuration overview

    To use the automated seat assignment feature, you must install plugins in the following order. You must have the System Administrator (admin) role to install plugins.

    1. Install the Journey designer plugin along with its demo data.

      For more information about installing Journey designer, see Installation and configuration overview.

    2. Install the Workplace Space Management plugin along with its demo data.

      For more information about installing Workplace Space Management, see Install Workplace Space Management.

    3. Configure a value for the sn_wsd_core.ALLOCATION_TYPE property.

      The system analyzes and assigns spaces based on the property value. For example, if the property is set to Cost Center, the system looks for a space with the same Cost Center as the new employee's manager.

      Note:
      This step is not required for neighborhood assignments.
    4. Install the Workplace Case Management plugin.

      For more information about installing Workplace Case Management, see Install Workplace Case Management.

    Note:
    If you have earlier versions of the plugins installed, update the Journey designer plugin and reinstall the demo data. Then update the Workplace Space Management plugin and reinstall the demo data.

    Process overview

    1. An HR manager or journey owner initiates an onboarding journey for a new employee. For more information about creating a journey, see Create a journey.
    2. The hiring manager fills in basic information about the employee. For more information about journey view for a manager, see Journey view for a manager.
    3. When the pre-boarding lifecycle event starts, the system creates a workplace case with the service Workplace Location Assignment. For more information about the Workplace Location Assignment service, see Workplace Location Assignment service.

      The employee and their manager can view the status of the workplace case from the Journeys page on the Employee Center.

      Note:
      To view workplace cases for employees, the manager must have the sn_wsd_core.workplace_user role.
    4. The system analyzes the locations of the employee's team and assigns a location or neighborhood to the employee's profile.

      For neighborhood assignments, if the user qualifies for a neighborhood, the system closes the workplace case with a work note. the Assign Users to Neighborhood scheduled job assigns the profile to the neighborhood.

      For location assignments, the system follows the configured workplace service.

      If the system can't find a space or neighborhood for the employee, a manual assignment task is created. A case manager or agent can then assign a location to the employee.

    5. After the space is assigned to the profile, the system sends an email to the employee and their manager with the location details.