Well, I talked to my manager as soon as we decided that we were going and he said he would see what he could do to assist me in transferring to Europe. Since my manager is from Europe (England), he understands the difficulties in relocating to another country.
Last week (Jan. 24), the manager for 3M Unitek Europe was visiting. My manager met with him and part of the topic of conversation was my desire to move to Milan. The European manager is interested in having me move but the headquarters are in Germany, not Milan.
But there are other obstacles besides the IT Department is usually handled at the European level and not at a business level. So to have me report to 3M Unitek instead of 3M will be difficult. And relocation expenses are being cut back. Even though my position is a lower level position and would not qualify for relocation benefits, if the company needs to sponsor my Visa, the cost could be significant. If I understood my manager correctly, his Visa to get his family to the United States was about $40,000. Even if mine was only $10,000, thats probably more than my company is willing to pay right now.
Now the good news, if Dave can get his citizenship then I should qualify to get a Visa to be with him. That Visa should allow me to work in the European Union. And if I cant get a job with 3M Unitek, I may be able to apply for a job within 3M in Milan.
In past years at 3M Unitek I worked in International Customer Service. One of my customers was the 3M Italia subsidiary. Although the people I worked with are no longer part of 3M Unitek, they are in management at 3M Italia. So I may be able to speak with these managers to assist me in getting a job outside of 3M Unitek but sill within 3M.
Lastly, one other point that my manager made with relocation your retirement and other things are transferred to your new position. Since I will not be qualified for relocation benefits, I may lose my retirement and 401K. And after 18 years with the company, this is a significant loss.
To put everything in a nutshell, the good news is that they want to transfer me; the bad news is it might not work out because of business politics. Keep my job transfer in your prayers, please.