r/careerguidance • u/Claptrap_5Z • 18h ago

Management is cutting my job after I automated 15 hours of weekly work, do I have to document it for them?

When I took this coordinator job, our team was losing fifteen to twenty hours every week just updating client logs and manually formatting spreadsheets.

I built a few simple macros and formula templates that cut all that data entry down to an hour. I thought saving twenty hours a week would free me up for higher-level projects.

instead, my manager called me into a meeting last Friday. She told me that because our administrative workload dropped, they are merging my role with a part-time position and letting me go. To get my severance check, they want me to write step-by-step documentation for every macro I set up.

I literally worked myself out of a salary. I should of just kept doing the data entry by hand like the last person.

Do I ACTUALLY have to document processes I created that were not in my original job description?

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u/SquirrelTechGuru 14h ago

Given that this company is using Excel macros, I’m going to assume they haven’t picked up on the AI yet

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u/know_your_anemone 13h ago

True. And I think this goes without saying but OP needs to delete all the api keys or secrets involved in the process. Remove any infrastructure that doesn’t require assistance from IT or engineering to do it.

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u/hasthisusernamegone 11h ago

Don't delete them. That would be construed as wilfully destroying it, which you'd have trouble defending in court.

Setting an expiration date on the key though is just good security practice.

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u/tanbirj 3h ago

You could say that you discovered a flaw and API keys embedded in code represents a security risk

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u/CalmWhenIShouldntBe 9h ago

ARE they using macros? or is it just him?

I'm not sure of other areas but I know in my work over the years less and less people even know how to use the basics of excel... I've seen this of all age groups.

I do believe AI solves a lot of those knowledge gap issues regardless, but those same people don't know how to use that either.