The most in-demand digital skills in Australian workplaces in 2026 are AI literacy and prompting, data literacy and spreadsheets, data visualisation and business intelligence, automation across the Microsoft ecosystem, and cybersecurity awareness, all resting on a foundation of analytical thinking. The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 ranks AI and big data as the single fastest-growing skill set, and expects 39% of workers’ core skills to change by 2030. For most Australian office workers, the priority is not becoming a data scientist; it is getting genuinely capable with the everyday tools they already have.
To merge cells in Excel, select the cells you want to combine, go to the Home tab, and click Merge & Center in the Alignment group. Use the dropdown arrow for other options: Merge Across (merges each row separately), Merge Cells (merges without centring) and Unmerge Cells. Merging keeps only the value in the top-left cell and discards the rest, so it is best used for titles and labels, not for data you will sort, filter or analyse.
To schedule an email in Outlook, compose it as normal, then choose the schedule option instead of Send. In new Outlook and Outlook on the web, click the small arrow next to the Send button and select Schedule send, then pick a date and time. In classic Outlook, open the Options tab, click Delay Delivery, and set a “Do not deliver before” date and time. Outlook then sends the message for you at that moment.
To create a drop-down list in Excel, select the cell, open the Data tab, click Data Validation, choose Allow: List, and either type your items in the Source box separated by commas or select a range that contains them. Click OK, and a small arrow lets users pick from the list instead of typing.
To set an out of office in Outlook, open Automatic Replies: in new Outlook or on the web go to Settings > Accounts > Automatic replies; in classic Outlook go to File > Automatic Replies. Turn it on, set a start and end time, type your message, and save. Automatic Replies works on Microsoft 365 and Exchange accounts.