Conditional Mass Update of Data in Google Sheets Using SQL

One of the tasks that cannot be solved using standard Google Sheets tools but can be handled with an SQL query is mass updating data with conditions. For example:

Task: Increase the Annual Salary by 10% for all employees working in the “IT” department who have more than 5 years of tenure.

SQL query for this task:

UPDATE "Employees!A1:E5?headers=1"
SET
  Salary = Salary * 1.10
WHERE
  Department = 'IT'
  AND strftime ('%Y', 'now') - strftime ('%Y', "Hire Date") > 5;

Why this is challenging to implement using standard Google Sheets tools:

1. Mass updates: In Google Sheets, you would need to manually calculate tenure, filter data, add helper columns, and then recalculate salaries.
2. Conditional updates: Formulas in Google Sheets work on individual cells or ranges but cannot apply mass updates based on conditions (e.g., tenure and department).
3. Automation: Applying such changes requires manual copying and pasting of data into the original table, increasing the risk of errors.

SQL enables you to execute all these actions in a single query, ensuring precision and automation.

Using SQL in Google Sheets

With the SheetQuery add-on, you can run SQL queries directly in Google Sheets:

1. Install SheetQuery from the Google Workspace Marketplace.
2. Get a sample dataset
3. Run the query above.