In my opinion, it depends on how far you want to do with a macro. If
you're limiting youself to simple tasks, then you may be able to get by
with the macro recorder. If you need to get more complex, then yes,
you would need to learn VBA.

Some of the things I have learned have been through using the macro
recorder to record simple macros (for example, to change the font of a
cell to bold and red) then looked at them in the Visual Basic Editor to
get a foundataion of understanding of the syntax.

And if you're stumped on something, there is a wealth of knowledge in
this newsgroup from MVPs like Chip and non-MVPs to help you along (just
try to search first before posting a question). I tinker with VBA for
my own personal use (and hopefully for the use of others in my office
at some point) and am grateful for the tremendous help I've received in
the NGs.