The date was set. Monday, January 4, 2023, was to be the reporting day for Tom Mboya Opiyo, an IT professional, at a global multinational technology company owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, Amazon.
However, the dream did not come to fruition after Opiyo received a phone call, four days to the date; informing him that the deal fell through owing to business changes as part of the organization’s annual review.
While taking to LinkedIn to share his story, Opiyo felt aggrieved by the situation, affirming that his family had been planning for the move for six months.
"My family is truly devastated after planning for the move for six months but I trust that God has a plan for us. They will go for counseling and I hope this helps," he stated.
The IT professional pointed out that in a bid to prepare for the opportunity, they sold their cars and household items, moved out of their house as well as took their children out of the schools they studied in.
"In our case, the kids had left their schools, we sold the cars and households and even moved out of the house so now we have to start afresh.
"For me, I didn’t expect to be in this kind of situation at this stage in my career but that’s what life is about. Some have to experience certain situations so as to be an example to others," he pointed out.
Previously, Opiyo quit a lucrative job as the Head of ICT at Unga Group Limited after 'securing' the job at Amazon.
The IT professional urged those taking global appointments to take into account risks and take mitigations such as resigning from their current employment only after acquiring a visa. He also advised them to travel first before involving the family at a later date.
"This is also to help those who are taking global appointments to know about the risks so as to take certain mitigations such as going ahead and family coming later, etc. Basically, don’t put all your eggs in one basket - something we learned long time ago."
"(The next factor is) Don’t resign until you get the visa - the process has taken us over 5 months - family document verification, police clearance, new passports, EU work authorization approvals in Europe, notarization and attestation of documents, etc. With bureaucracy in both countries, it’s a big problem and time-consuming," he noted.
In December 2022, Unga Group Limited organised a farewell party for Opiyo- in appreciation for the six years and five months at the company.
