What it does: It specialises in functional home furnishing products that are sold in compact flat-pack form for in-home assembly by the customers
Mission: To create a better everyday life for many people
Size and presence: IKEA Australia employed 3,689 coworkers (as of 31 August 2021)
Best known for IKEA is known for its flat-packed furniture
The good bits: Working for a global company and the world’s largest seller of furniture in the early 21st century
The not-so-good bits: Some of the roles require you to work up to 3 out of 4 weekends
In 1943, at the age of 17, Ingvar Kamprad started the company by selling miscellaneous small goods such as lighters and pens. He began to sell furniture in 1948, and in 1951, the first annual IKEA catalogue was published.
In 1953, he opened a showroom where customers could look at displays and place their orders. In 1958, the very first retail store was opened in Älmhult. The company strived to reduce costs so that they could cut their product prices. Therefore, they introduced the flat-packing of furniture in 1956.
IKEA opened their first international store in Norway in 1963, then expanded the market beyond the Nordic countries by establishing stores in Switzerland (in 1973), Germany (1974), Australia (1975), France (1981), the United States (1985), the United Kingdom (1987), China (1998), and Russia (2000).
Today, IKEA Australia operates 10 home furnishing product retail stores in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory, including a Service Office and a Customer Support Centre. Each store is spread across a large area with more than 7500 products. It also has an online presence that provides services in Australia exclusively.
IKEA is strongly committed to providing a supportive work environment that values inclusion and diversity. Therefore, it encourages applications across all cultural backgrounds, abilities and genders. It also believes in equal pay for work of equal value.
The overall environment is good with teamwork and supportive co-workers toward the end goal of working together to improve the customer experience at IKEA. The worked hours at IKEA would range between 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. However, the fast-paced environment may require you to work in shifts or on weekends at times.
Once you become more experienced, the company may offer different roles in different departments for you to move into. You can learn many things about the profession since there are lots of opportunities to cross-train and relocate to different stores if needed.
For example, you can get a good experience in the sales department, which can get a bit exhausting sometimes since there are a lot of interactions with customers. Then, you can feel a different vibe in the logistics department that is more strict since they set Key Performance Indicators you must adhere to.
A typical day at work can include picking and dispatching customer orders accurately, picking and loading the daily replenishment for the store, replenishing your assigned area to ensure it is fully stocked, and using inventory systems to ensure stock availability is accurate.
Some of the positions currently open at IKEA Australia are Country Chief Financial Officer, Goods Flow Co-worker, Visual Merchandising Co-worker, Customer Support Centre Co-worker, and Sales Department Supervisor.
The general requirements for those positions are: passionate about home furnishing, strong customer focus, enjoy working in a fast-paced environment, ability to optimise sales through thorough knowledge of the IKEA product range, local market and customers, adaptable and energetic, availability to work across the store opening hours, including some late nights and have weekend availability.
After applying online through their website, you might get a call for a quick pre-screening interview, then a meeting with the Manager, following up with the HR and People and Culture team. The interviewers may want you to explain about yourself, your previous work/experience, the importance of teamwork, your difficulties with your teammates, why you want to work for IKEA, and how you fit into IKEA’s culture. The interview process might take some time to be finalised, and the hiring team will also perform necessary background checks.
The career with IKEA is flexible since the company puts the employees in charge of their own personal and career development. They know that people’s interests can grow, so they encourage their employees to move around within the company, trying different roles and changing between functions. This means there is no typical career path at IKEA, and it is reflected in the fact that around 60% of their staff have had three different roles within their career with IKEA.
Employees will be entitled to great initiatives including:
As IKEA’s philanthropic organisation, IKEA Foundation provides grants for programmes that help families living in poverty and create a healthy environment. Through partnerships with small and large organisations, it aims to find innovative solutions and to inspire policymakers.
Since 2012, IKEA also has been working together with social entrepreneurs across the world. They create a better world by providing jobs that empower people, while also addressing environmental and social challenges. IKEA also supports social entrepreneurs directly through grants, loans, investments and non-financial tools.
For the environment, IKEA is working to become a circular business. The company develops new products that enable customers to maintain, repair and pass on their belongings when they no longer need them. In addition, more than 60% of IKEA products are based on renewable materials and more than 10% contain recycled materials.
The following sources were used in researching this page