An IT professional from Kenya, Tom Mboya Opiyo, shared his experience of being fired just four days before his planned relocation to Europe for a job at Amazon. He stated that he was informed that the opportunity had fallen through due to business changes at the global e-commerce giant.
Amazon is cutting 6% of its workforce, which amounts to 18,000 employees, from its offices worldwide. This decision was made at a time when the company’s share price has dropped significantly. Opiyo was informed that he was among the 18,000 people being laid off by Amazon just four days before his planned relocation to Europe.
He had sold his house and cars in preparation for the move. He shared his experience in a LinkedIn post and mentions how he and his family were left ‘devastated’ by the news.
He was supposed to start his first day in the office on Monday and his family had been planning for the move for 6 months, but they were left feeling devastated by this turn of events.
He shared two pieces of advice for others planning to relocate for a job. The first was for the employee to go ahead and have his or her family follow later, so as not to put all their eggs in one basket.
Opiyo also advised job-seekers to not quit their current job until they have their visa, as the process of getting a visa can take over 5 months, including family document verification, police clearance, new passports, EU work authorization approvals and notarization of documents.
Amazon is one of several big firms that have announced job cuts in recent months.
Many employees who were let go later took to social media to express their availability for new job opportunities.
An employee named Manas Ranjan Panda, who had made good profits for the company in the last two years, expressed his disappointment in being let go. He mentioned in his LinkedIn post that he was promoted just last month and now he is looking for new job opportunities.
David Solomon, CEO, Goldman Sachs had previously suggested that he may reduce the size of the company.
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