Man loses Amazon job four days before relocating to Europe
Opiyo learned he was one of the 18,000 people affected by Amazon's mass layoffs four days prior to his intended relocation to Europe.
- Jan 17, 2023,
- Updated Jan 17, 2023 5:16 PM IST
An IT professional from Kenya was told four days before his trip to Europe for a job at Amazon that the opportunity had fallen through due to business changes at the global e-commerce giant. In a LinkedIn post, Tom Mboya Opiyo shared his experience, revealing that he had sold his house and cars in preparation for a relocation that never materialised.
Amazon is planning to lay off 18,000 employees from its offices around the world. The layoffs represent 6 per cent of the company's workforce and come at a time when Amazon's stock price has plummeted.
Opiyo learned he was one of the 18,000 people affected by Amazon's mass layoffs four days prior to his intended relocation to Europe.
Opiyo and his family were "devastated" by the turn of events on Monday, which would have been his first day in office after travelling over the weekend.
"My family is truly devastated after 6 months of planning for the move," he wrote on LinkedIn.
The Kenyan IT professional stated that his children had graduated from high school and that he had sold his home and vehicles in order to relocate to Europe. They'd have to start over while dealing with the blow. Opiyo offered two pieces of advice to others considering relocating for work.
He stated that the first option was for the employee to go ahead and have his or her family follow later. "Basically, we learned a long time ago not to put all our eggs in one basket," he wrote.
Additionally, Opiyo advised job seekers to hold off on quitting their jobs until they received their visas. “Don’t resign until you get the visa - the process has taken us over 5 months,” he said, noting that the procedure had taken more than five months due to the length of time it had taken to obtain the necessary family document verification, police clearance, new passports, EU work authorization approvals, and document notarization.
He asked his readers to remember him in their prayers as he closed out his post.
Amazon is one of several large corporations that have announced job cuts in recent months. Twitter and Meta have also reduced their workforces or are in the process of doing so.
An IT professional from Kenya was told four days before his trip to Europe for a job at Amazon that the opportunity had fallen through due to business changes at the global e-commerce giant. In a LinkedIn post, Tom Mboya Opiyo shared his experience, revealing that he had sold his house and cars in preparation for a relocation that never materialised.
Amazon is planning to lay off 18,000 employees from its offices around the world. The layoffs represent 6 per cent of the company's workforce and come at a time when Amazon's stock price has plummeted.
Opiyo learned he was one of the 18,000 people affected by Amazon's mass layoffs four days prior to his intended relocation to Europe.
Opiyo and his family were "devastated" by the turn of events on Monday, which would have been his first day in office after travelling over the weekend.
"My family is truly devastated after 6 months of planning for the move," he wrote on LinkedIn.
The Kenyan IT professional stated that his children had graduated from high school and that he had sold his home and vehicles in order to relocate to Europe. They'd have to start over while dealing with the blow. Opiyo offered two pieces of advice to others considering relocating for work.
He stated that the first option was for the employee to go ahead and have his or her family follow later. "Basically, we learned a long time ago not to put all our eggs in one basket," he wrote.
Additionally, Opiyo advised job seekers to hold off on quitting their jobs until they received their visas. “Don’t resign until you get the visa - the process has taken us over 5 months,” he said, noting that the procedure had taken more than five months due to the length of time it had taken to obtain the necessary family document verification, police clearance, new passports, EU work authorization approvals, and document notarization.
He asked his readers to remember him in their prayers as he closed out his post.
Amazon is one of several large corporations that have announced job cuts in recent months. Twitter and Meta have also reduced their workforces or are in the process of doing so.