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Business News/ Companies / News/  Ikea parent to create 11,500 jobs globally over two years
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Ikea parent to create 11,500 jobs globally over two years

Ikea parent Ingka says 7,500 employees of the current 160,000 across 30 markets globally may become redundant

Ikea plans to increase its India headcount from 1,500 to 15,000 with half of the jobs reserved for women, says Ikea India CEO Peter Betzel. Photo: ReutersPremium
Ikea plans to increase its India headcount from 1,500 to 15,000 with half of the jobs reserved for women, says Ikea India CEO Peter Betzel. Photo: Reuters

Bengaluru: Ingka Group, the parent company of Swedish furniture retailer Ikea, said it plans to create 11,500 new jobs worldwide over the next two years as it seeks to grow its footprint. It will also invest in setting up fulfilment centres and to expand its digital capabilities.

The holding company, however, said that 7,500 employees of the current 160,000 across 30 markets globally may become redundant. In India, though, it will be on an expansion spree.

In August, the first Ikea store opened in Hyderabad. The retailer’s second offline store is due to open in Mumbai next summer, and it is also set to launch its online operations in the city.

Ikea has four land parcels across Telangana, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Delhi-NCR, and is continuing to look for opportunities in all major Indian cities.

“The idea (behind the global transformation) is how we can meet customers additionally, apart from our big box stores, how we can meet them more closer in the cities under new (offline) formats that are being developed, and also to meet them digitally. This fits fantastically in India where we see that the smartphone plays a very important role. It’s a digitized country," said Peter Betzel, CEO, Ikea India.

Ikea plans to increase its India headcount from 1,500 to 15,000 with half of the jobs reserved for women, said Betzel without giving a timeframe. It plans to create 3,000 new jobs over the next two years in the country. That said, certain existing roles will change in India, too.

The company confirmed that all employees will get to explore new opportunities. Apart from jobs at IKEA stores and city centres, the furniture maker will create new roles in digital, data analytics, diversified fulfilment networks and personalisation.

“India is an expanding market. We will create many more jobs in many new areas. We will now have to have competence working in our smaller city store formats, and competence in e-commerce, for instance, and then inside the organization a few jobs will transform. So there will be people who are today working in one job and tomorrow will take on another job. That is also part of the transformation," said Anna-Carin Mansson, country people and culture manager, Ikea India.

Ingka Group is assessing its workforce globally and is looking to simplify its business model to enable greater focus on value additions.

“We continue to grow and perform strongly. At the same time, we recognise that the retail landscape is transforming at a scale and pace we’ve never seen before. As customer behaviours change rapidly, we are investing and developing our business to meet their needs in better and newer ways...Together these elements guide our work and build our inclusive, open and honest culture, and we’re going to support our co-workers in the best possible way throughout this change," said Jesper Brodin, CEO, Ingka Group.

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Published: 21 Nov 2018, 06:34 PM IST
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