Tag: ikea

Ikea to pay all their Irish staff ‘The Living Wage’

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

There has been much debate surrounding Ireland’s minimum wage of late. Many argue that minimum wage is not reflective of the cost of living and thus ‘The Living Wage’ is a better reflection on the minimum amount Irish workers should earn on an hourly pay scale. Enter Ikea…

The Swedish Retail giant has agreed to pay all its Irish staff ‘A living wage’ ensuring a meaningful wage for all workers. Ikea have only one Irish store, located in Ballymun North Dublin. The flat pack giant will issue pay cheques based on the cost of living for employees in Ireland and the UK.

Ikea HR manager for the UK and Ireland Pernille Hagild said as a ‘values-driven organisation’ the chain believed in “providing a meaningful wage to our co-workers that supports the cost of living no matter where they live”.

He furthered ‘’Over the coming months we will work together with the relevant organisations and authorities in Ireland to secure this in the right way in the Irish market.” In the past days the government have agreed to increase the mimumim wage (€8.65 per hour) by 50 cent. Ikea already pays their staff above this, with the bottom pay scale €9.77 per hour.

A consortium of unions and other campaigners have put the living wage in Ireland at €11.50 per hour although it’s not yet known on what basis Ikea will calculate its rate.

Source: http://businessetc.thejournal.ie/ikea-pay-rate-2226056-Jul2015/

Ikea to test new smaller high street format

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

Ikea plans to trial new smaller format stores in an attempt to extend their reach across Britain and Ireland. The privately owned Swedish company is known for their extensive stores and flat pack offerings. Beginning in Norwich this Autumn, Ikea will trial ‘order and collection’ points.

Ikea currently operate 18 stores in the UK, which customers cite as ‘too far away’. Ikea’s UK manager Gillian Drakeford said of the new venture ‘’Order and collection points give us the opportunity to trial new ways of being more accessible to our customers’’. Ikea have currently opened similar formats in Spain, Finland and Norway.

The Norwich outlet will allow customers to touch and test Ikea’s product range, speak to home furnishing experts and make and collect orders made online or in the store, which will also include an Ikea cafe. The move is part of a global initiative as Ikea. Ikea currently has 315 stores in 27 countries and aims to double sales to about €50 billion by 2020 through sales growth at existing stores, new stores and new markets.