Tobias Okello, 42, accidentally found a job online in a country he did not know existed about nine years ago.
The Bachelor of Science in Biology graduate from the University of Eastern Africa, Baraton, was scrolling the internet one Saturday afternoon about eight years ago out of curiosity and not because he was seriously looking for a job.
“That was the first time in my life that I tried applying for a job online. I wasn’t even serious. I was just scrolling,” he says.
He didn’t think much about it when he submitted his application.
At the start of the following week, the hiring company called.
However, the calls kept coming. “I told myself, let me just check the country code”. His quick search online revealed the surprising result: Luxembourg. “That’s when I said, okay, let me pick it”.
Histologist Tobias Okello at a working station at the Luxembourg Institute of Health in Luxembourg in 2025.
Photo credit: Pool
After the long wait, Mr Okello sent a brief email to inquire about progress, to which he received an instant response requesting him to plan for an in-person interview.
“Most of the time, I was just being told, ‘Please come here. Please bring this.’ They handled almost everything,” he says. “Everybody kept telling me this kind of thing does not happen”. When he finally travelled to Luxembourg, there was no second interview waiting for him.
“They just wanted to see me. The interview we did on Skype was enough, they told me”.
Tobias Okello, the 42-year-old Histologist in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, in 2025.
Photo credit: Pool
His path into histology began a decade before he went to Luxembourg. After completing a Bachelor of Science in Biology at Baraton, with a biomedical option, he interned at Kenyatta National Hospital.
He undertook six months of specialised training, then worked under a private pathologist for the rest of his Kenya-based career.
When he arrived in 2018, the institution helped him secure shared accommodation, common for single professionals.
“We cross to Germany to buy food; onions that cost €4 in Germany will cost €15 in Luxembourg. So, you stock your fridge”. He buys his clothing in Belgium or France. “You only buy in Luxembourg if you have missed something. Otherwise, it is too expensive”.
Transport, however, is free. “Bus and train services across the whole country are free.”
Family life has been the hardest balance. He was not married at the time of relocation. That has since changed. His wife lives and works in Kenya. “It is a good thing and a bad thing at the same time. When you meet, you value each other more. But sometimes you need your partner, and they are not there”. Travel between the two countries is expensive, but love calls for sacrifice, as Okello observes.
Recent policy changes in the country have made it easy for family members of skilled workers to join them, live and work in Luxembourg on the account of the sponsor (principal member). “I am in the process of applying for my citizenship. My family can, however, join me here whenever.” The country has experienced an influx of other nationalities recently, thus reducing job opportunities across industries. “The competition has intensified, especially after European countries welcomed Ukrainian refugees. Some jobs are still open, but a majority require skilled workers. Remember, my job was advertised for seven years before I applied. Nobody was applying. There are still many opportunities for skilled workers”.
With the high standards of living, is relocating to Luxembourg worth it? “I would say it is, with a pay of between 5,000-12,200 Euros (Sh760,000-1,800,000), one can do a lot if they are prudent managers of their money. Does he plan to return to Kenya permanently? “We always want to come back, but life interferes. For many families, Europe offers dignity, protection, and systems that work. Who doesn’t want a good life?”
One thing he misses is the sense of community he left in Kenya. “The downside of relocating is that the community is no longer freely accessible as in your home country. Most people relocate for greener pastures, which is to say, they are constantly working. In Kenya, weekends are easy; you can meet family and friends, travel up country, etc. Here, you operate on a schedule. Even leisure meetings must fall within plans. I miss the ease with which you can do that in Kenya.”
