2025–01 My Substack Exclusive Articles
Read them on Substack.
1. My Thoughts on “Return-to-Office” Policy*
Be proactive and take action, or simply follow the company’s policy. Either way is better than begrudging it.
Amazon’s announcement of its “Return-to-Office” (RTO) mandate has ignited extensive online discussion. As of today, January 2, 2025, the RTO policy officially takes effect.
In this article, I want to share my perspectives on the matter:
- One from the employer’s viewpoint
- Another from the employee’s evolving perspective.
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2. Which Foreign Language(s) Should Motivated Software Professionals Learn?*
This article is intended for highly motivated software professionals proficient in English, aiming to:
- Experiment with working in different cultural settings.
- Pursue a career as a Digital Nomad.
- Build and launch apps that appeal to a global customer base as a solopreneur.
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3. SmartBear’s Attempt to Commercialize Cucumber for E2E Test Automation Failed Badly*
On 2019–06–25, SmartBear, a big commercial tool vendor in the E2E test automation field, announced that it acquired Cucumber.
On 2023–02–24, Matt Wynne — the last of Cucumber’s co-founders who actively worked on the project — got laid off.
On 2024–12–19 (last month), Matt Wynee announced on the Cucumber website that “Cucumber is back in Community Ownership”.
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4. Why IT Job Market is Bad Right Now?*
Exploring Job Market Cycles and Key Influencing Factors.
Table of Contents:
· 1. Overhire during the COVID time
· 2. The end of historic low interest rates
· 3. Software Engineer Salaries Are Excessively High
· 4. Failed/Failing Hypes
· 5. Layoffs as a Natural Consequence
· My Advice
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