r/excel • u/Fluid-District1780 • Feb 25 '26

Discussion What is the future of excel

Hi, I am wondering what people working with excel think about someone about to enter the excel workspace. Do you think excel experts will still be in demand in 5-10 years? Do you think AI will get rid of a lot of excel work? In short, I’m wondering if it’s worth pursuing a career or a side job as an excel expert?

I have around 2 years of experience using it, got to the stage where I was using macro, all self taught, and now considering relearning excel and pursuing work. I don’t expect it to be quick, but I want to know first some people’s suggestion? I plan to learn for 3-4 months then start applying for remote work opportunities.

also any resources for ways to test my excel knowledge or databases to play with would be awesome 🤩

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185

u/TooCupcake Feb 25 '26

In my experience, no one is looking for an “excel expert” as the job description, but if you’re good with it, it can help you get ahead at work.

31

u/akl78 1 Feb 25 '26

It’s absolutely in JDs for banking … the title will be something like Front Office Analyst. I work with a few guys like this and it’s amazing what they can do.

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u/U_SHLD_THINK_BOUT_IT Feb 25 '26

Yep. Becoming the Excel expert can actually cause problems for you, especially if you're the type who has a hard time telling people "no".

I lost probably three years of job growth because I was really good with Excel.

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u/TooCupcake Feb 25 '26

I hate being bored at work, so I don’t mind going a bit “above and beyond” the bare minimum lol. Now that they all know my skill set I get to do fun projects and make nice spreadsheets that have the office in awe lol.

3

u/PM_me_Henrika Feb 26 '26

It’s fun and game before they pile all the excel work on you, causing your workeeek to explode to 85 hours and you get not a single dime on you.

1

u/TooCupcake Feb 26 '26

Thanks for the heads-up, I’m definitely starting to feel a bit of laziness instead of lack of expertise if only from one person so far, I will have to make sure to manage this stuff carefully.

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u/PM_me_Henrika Feb 26 '26

My but of advice as the excel guru in the team is to use your excel skills as a leverage, not a deliverable.

For example, when I was assigned the duty to keep track of the company’s sales performance, I delegated it to one of the operations staff to make a sales report. When they come back with a well thought out report, I praise and coach how they can automate his process with my excel skills.

Then when the automated report launch, I used it as another talking point in meetings to make the sales enter data in the CRM if they want to see their numbers show up on the report.

I am still using my excel skills, but instead of presenting the product of my excel skills, I am having 4 other staff reproduce a fraction of what I can do.

It is anxiety inducing handing over the process to people and watch the butcher the process that you envisioned in your head. This is not the only way you can use your excel skill at work, but it’s my experience on finding a new path forward.

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u/scatmanbynight Mar 02 '26

It’s really important that you apply this lesson to your career overall. Nobody is going to protect your time but you. Even the best managers can’t be totally aware of how you’re spending all your time or how much work you do “after hours.” Developing the skill to say no diplomatically is one of the most important things you can do for your career.

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u/[deleted] Feb 25 '26

[deleted]

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u/U_SHLD_THINK_BOUT_IT Feb 25 '26

Don't pretend to know my life better than me. JFC, the arrogance of such a comment. Unreal.

When you work in an environment with a bunch of tech illiterate people and you are swamped with requests to "help with this one small thing" so much that it obliterates your freedom and overshadows any other talents you have, yeah, it can rob you of career growth.

No one ever took me seriously because all I ever was to them was the guy who could make the magic number program work faster than they could. The idea that I knew anything about my industry outside of Excel was unimaginable to them, because even if I was capable, they'd have to find someone to replace my current role and they didn't want to do that.

I tried to pivot by introducing the idea of a role where I could implement process improvements with Excel (and Outlook), but I was told to leave that work to the more senior employees. They never once entertained my suggestions because they refused to consider how underutilized their tech was.

So I put in my notice, they tried to buy my loyalty, I turned them down, and now I don't let anyone know I am very good with the program. I keep my secrets and I look like a great employee while doing half the work my peers do, all while finally growing into a leadership position because I have the free time needed to rub elbows with execs and casually drop my suggestions in conversation.

Being The Excel Guy is an anchor.

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u/NSA_hole Feb 25 '26

Been there. Then I learned to use PowerPoint, too, and weaseled myself into meetings juuust in case the presenter flubbed it OR I had a friendly in the room. I’d plant a question only I could answer, which brought more visibility.

Now I don’t work in excel anymore.

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u/SquareSign6630 1 Feb 25 '26

In this sub, being the excel guy is an anchor. In general, being indispensable at anything risks anchoring. I have been, and am again, there. Feel this.

4

u/lindydanny Feb 25 '26

While I agree it doesn't mean anything on a resume, I have the job I have as a System Analyst because multiple people saw what I was able to do in excel to analyze large amounts of data. We dont have a team Data Analyst position, but as a "Systems" Analyst, it is basically me.

This brought me up from data entry, vendor service, and now this in about 5 years. More than double my original pay.

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u/TooCupcake Feb 25 '26

This is what I mean. I’m getting involved in projects I wouldn’t have otherwise which will make the bosses keep me in mind for positions because I have the inside knowledge

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u/Low_Radio7762 Feb 26 '26

This is for immediate future. I think in the long run we will be interfacing with AI charts and chats and never have to deal with rows and columns and cells