Preparing for Milano

Shelly’s boss from work, who was originally from England, was just put in charge over all of Europe. That means if and when we get to go to Italy, she has someone in her corner that can pull the strings. Not sure if it means what I think it means, but it’s nice to see pieces falling into place here and there. Last word we had heard was they would prefer her to go to Germany, if she were to move there. But this guy seems to understand that her job could be done from basically any country. And he really loves shelly and her work. So it’s nice to see something like this coming around.

Posted by Dave 

Talking with Shelly the other day, and she mentioned that her new boss has given her the go-ahead to talk to the people in Milan about getting a job there. What this looks like is that she will not actually be getting a job transfer at all. She is simply free to quit and find another job…….. 

It’s a little better than that since she knows some of the people in Milan, but she has of course been free to do this the whole time. Apparently, then we will get no help from 3M in moving the job over. 

This could be good…. Or more difficult….. things have definitely shifted. They are not necessarily worse or better, just different. That is always a bit scary, but in reality the whole move would be a bit scary anyways, so this is just another reason to trust the Lord. 

When we go to Italy in about a month and a half, Shelly has arranged to meet with the people at 3M. She had hoped originally that she could broach the subject and that 3M here would be helping her. Now she will have to simply ask if they would be willing to hire her. The good is that they know her work and her record with 3M AND she will have Italian citizenship. The bad is that she doesn’t speak Italian. While many of them are good in English, you can’t escape the fact that living and working in Italy means needing to speak at least passable Italian. 

This is a HUGE part of our going to Italy. The 2 things I feel like I really need are the citizenship and steady work. I am asking the Lord to really open or close doors, and if these things start to close off, I will need to seriously consider whether doors are being shut to us going there. If it turns out that she CAN’T get work with 3M Italy, it is not necessarily the end of the road for us, but I would need to be in serious prayer as to whether we are really called or if we need to press on in an ever greater measure of faith. 

So we are asking for prayer for that meeting: that she would again find favor with the people in charge and that they would be open to hiring her. 

posted by Shelly

Well, today was a little shocking for me. I was informed that my manager has taken another position within Unitek. I had been relying on this manager to be able to pull the strings to get me a position within 3M Unitek in Italy because he relocated from England to the U.S. – so I thought that he would understand the process and be able to complete the transfer. Since he is no longer my manager, he will not have the same influence that he did; although, when I talked to him after the announcement, he indicated that it was all in the hands of his manager – who is located in St. Paul.

I also talked to the new IT Manager since she had been made aware of my desire to move to Italy. I have worked for her in the past, so I felt comfortable talking to her. She stated she will talk to the manager in St. Paul and see what is happening.

Something that I learned today – put your trust in God and not people. I had thought that God was going to use my old manager to pull the strings – so all my hope had been placed in this man and not God. I didn’t even realize how much trust I was placing in man – until the announcement was made and I became really depressed thinking that all is lost. But, while holding back tears, I started thinking and praying and realizing that I need to trust God.

It is going to be a difficult proposition to have my company transfer me to Italy because I don’t speak the language (yet) and the center of business in Europe is in Germany and not Italy. So to get approval to be located in Italy will be a miracle – even though there is a large 3M facility in Milan. I may actually need to apply to a position within 3M Italy rather than transfer my existing job (which is what I want to do) – but, since I don’t speak the language, it will be difficult to get an approval on any position. Continue to pray for my job transfer.

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, that’s 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 can’t 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.