retail sales associate

customer service representative

food service associate

installation technician

sales associate

IKEA

When I first started working at IKEA years ago I loved being there. The days would go by fast, the team leaders seemed to notice hard work, and there was a lot of opportunities. As the years have gone by that is no longer the case. After many years of bad management moral is extremely low and the only reason people bother to show up is for the pay check, they no longer enjoy being there.Before last year it was years that we got a bonus. Management was blaming the employees for down time, when in reality it was the 02 system that they switched over to which takes about five minutes to start up every single time you power off your equipment, and up until last year it would lose signal on an everyday base. We would tell management that the reason there is a decent chunk of over all down time was due to the new system but they would turn around and blame it on talking in the isle. We are not allowed to build connections with our fellow coworkers, but on the other hand team leader stay talking to each other all day. When you need them they vanish into thin air but when its 120 degrees in the warehouse you see them harassing people for trying to take a min. or two to get a breath. During the pandemic the location stayed open while a lot of other locations closed down. In the be-gaining it was hard to stay productive because there were empty queues left and right and no one know what to do. After about a month rather then take responsibility for the down time everyone had due to lack of work management decided that as a thank you for working during the pandemic with no hazard pay like other warehouses were offering they were going to start writing people up for what ever they can find. It seems that at the moment half of the warehouse has been put on a six month warning for varies reasons a few people has tried talking to the warehouse manager. But his response is " i don't want to hear it" and we have been told to call I Speak. Nothing makes sense anymore they want us to keep a 6 foot distance but they have started highering more part time people and they have sent what was already there to one building so it it impossible to maintain social distancing. And even if you were to try you would get hit with down time, waiting for people to move out of the way. There is no wining working at IKEA anymore, you just work and hear how your fellow co workers are on a final for something that they had no control over at times. The benefits are steady going down hill. The yearly raises are a joke. The cost of living adjustment in California is going up by dollars and IKEA is only giving us change every two years if that there are some co workers that only got a 13 cent living adjustment.  The thing IKEA does have going for it is parental leave where all together you get 16 weeks, the last 8 half paid. But other then that I can honestly say it's not the IKEA I was hired into and I think of quitting everyday. When I get home my dog runs away from me and my family doesn't even ask me how my day has been because I never have anything good to say anymore. My kids even ask me why I don't get another job because they are tired of seeing me in a deep state of depression every time I come home from work. I really wish things would have stayed the way they were when I first got hired. The company has so much potential and I would never want to come home. But things turned for the worst in this particular location.I guess I will look for another job even if it pays less just to be treated like a human being would mean the whole world to me. Also don't expect to get holidays off IKEA does not believe in paid holidays you have to summit PTO and if you are lucky you might get Christmas off without having to make up the day. A few weeks ago a co worker hurt his ankle very bad and rather then taking him to the hospital they had him wait for an hour and talked about calling in an uber or having the co worker drive himself to the hospital with a potentially broken leg. Apparently someone over heard one of the managers saying they couldn't spare anyone in a leadership position to drive him the the hospital so he just had to wait there. If you love money its a great place to work, and if you love being treated like a worthless dog its an even greater place to work. But if you want to be treated like a human being run away and don't look back.

Allow me to break my experience at IKEA down into the following categories.

The Pay and Benefits: The pay is fairly average for the type of job it falls under, starting at $13.10 an hour. My pay is fairly higher than the minimum due to my specialist position but I definitely work for that extra money. The benefits are great for a "part-time" job (I'll go more into that later) but you have to pay a fair amount out of pocket for decent coverage. Bonuses are non-existent and you get a yearly gift around Christmas time and a holiday party.

Work/Life Balance: This is my biggest complaint about the workplace. I entered the company as a part-timer (20-34 hours per week) but quickly learned that most weeks will comprise of 30+ hours and many times pushing past the 34 hour cap. This was especially prevalent since IKEA opened back up after the COVID-19 quarantine and I've been scheduled 5-6 days a week nearing 40 hours a week with very little flexibility. I've even attempted to inform management to stop giving me more than 34 hours a week and was given a "sorry but no" response despite being told that isn't allowed. Also, the schedules are extremely wild and unpredictable as your availability has very little flexibility and can jump from early morning shifts to late night shifts and heavily intrudes in your free time. Many of these issues would not apply to people that would take as many hours as they please and don't mind the erratic schedules. Overall, I would not recommend working here for students or people that prefer a more organized schedule.

Job Security/Advancement: I haven't seen many issues but nothing crazy special either. Job security is not really an issue as IKEA does not lay people off regularly, but potential for advancement is nothing great either. I've witnessed some people move up in the company but this is only with proper experience for that position or a higher end degree.

Management: This is another issue with the company. Supervisors/leaders are usually great and usually work for their employees but you rarely work with them especially in busier times of the year thanks to the incredibly disorganized system that IKEA's had since a big change a few years back. Any level of management above the leaders, on the other hand, always seems to be out for your neck and seems to have very little respect for their lower level coworkers. Micromanaging is quite common, they always seem to be working against you, and manipulate people heavily to benefit the company. This was my experience in the sales department and may not reflect on other departments.

Job Culture: This is by far the best aspect of the job. The other employees are great to get to know and chat with as there are a lot of different types of people that work for IKEA with different backgrounds and stories. The environment is usually on the friendlier side and feels fairly laid-back on some days compared to other places. On the other hand, on the busy days many people are grumpy and the environment becomes very highly stressful. I'd also like to note IKEA's attempts at accommodating for their employees during the COVID-19 epidemic to ensure safety was rather pathetic. Most of the accommodations seemed like PR stunts and did very little to actually help those who worry about contracting the disease. Many people have very high stress levels during these times and IKEA did not take much feedback to improve these conditions as most improvements would've slightly harmed their profits.

All in all, my experience at IKEA is generally negative. I'm stressed most days, my schedule is incredibly limited and I am unable to balance my work and life very well, and I feel I am not paid enough for the work I put out sometimes. The only redeeming factor of IKEA are the people you work with and the friendly environment, and this is the main reason I've stayed for longer than a few months. 

It was a terrible experience. I personally would not recommend working at any Ikea right now, especially in the food service department.

its a very physically demanding job, and you're not only expected to serve food, but also clean multiple times a day, and unpack and pack food items.

in a normal setting, with an appropriate number of staff, this is a demanding job. however due to the understaffing of the department, the job really became how well you can cover the duties of two or three people. it was not uncommon to see the cashier preparing food and handling money by themselves at the bistro as a result of no-one else being available to help which could be a very bad condition for cross-contamination.

The environment was very difficult to work in, with standing up to 3 to 4 hours without a break, wearing a thick uniform shirt with little to no a/c in record breaking heat in the kitchens and serving line, all while dealing with very rude customers and managers constantly prioritizing sales over workers mental and physical wellbeing. 

Breaks were only up to 3 breaks, and they were a bandage honestly. After a tense interaction with a customer, or a three hour shift on the line in the heat, i would walk to the break room, put my timer on for 15 minutes, and just lay my head down until i can gather strength to get up and return to work.

There really was no advancement in the department to my knowledge, and it seemed common to see coworkers in the same position for more than 3 to 5 years with little to no advancement in either pay or position.

Primarily, the worst insult was the pivot of demanding workers to be available constantly through fridays, saturdays, and sundays to accommodate for larger crowds that come on the weekend. it was very uncomfortable to be working in close contact with customers who may or may not be vaccinated and almost certainly not wearing masks. 

From personal experience, all of the pto requests i placed that were on a friday saturday or sunday were all denied even if they were placed two weeks in advance, which I found to be unfair. 

In less than 3 months, at least 4 foodservice co-workers who were there when i first started had left. My guess would be that their reasons for quitting would be similar to mine's, which were frustration with constantly being expected by management to perform the tasks and expectations of 2 or 3 people to keep up normal sales pre-pandemic, standing and doing physically demanding work in the heat, as well as the rude and even bigoted behavior of customers in the food line, as well as the cashier's line. 

there were some positives however, it wasn't a completely negative experience. Theres really no prior food service experience required if you can show you have the willingness to learn. Also, some of the coworkers and some of the managers were really supportive. It's was also great to see some customers who behaved nicely, or even if theyre weren't nice, theyre were at least respectful.

overall, your work-life balance would absolutely suffer, but i guess the pay makes up for it.


I've been an employee for about a year now. When I first started, I was impressed by how organized they were and nice everyone was. I felt welcomed and was greeted by my manager who was super friendly and still is. Within 4 months of working, I was seeing how things really were. Gossiping and management who has NO CLUE how to do things, two faced and throw you under the bus type people. All the managers were friends and did nothing except talk and stay in the admin part, there's a select few who actually helped and are wonderful managers. Our store is super disorganized, they get rid of people who have been there for years and the management has groups like in high school. All they do is gossip and blame others, none of the new managers get proper training, they don't have the experience in the areas and if you're not on their side you'll be on their list to get terminated. I personally am not involved in any of this drama but I see it around me in all departments. It's quite sad because apparently IKEA's main focus when you're hired is the IKEA values and culture, but what's the point when the leaders aren't leading and they aren't living the way it's supposed to be. You start losing respect for a company and only stay because it's a consistent paycheck. I do have to say the employee benefits are great. That's about it. I hate to say that for a company I work for but it's true. What's weird is other IKEA employees from other locations say their management isn't run the way ours is, maybe it's this location. I've heard it from many employees. Still, they aren't going to do anything about it. I see higher management verbally attack and find ways to manipulate those they don't care for, and try to coerce their co-workers to tattle on them, who does that? That's super conniving and unprofessional. We're not in high school, it's a shame because most of our managers high up are over 40. Some lack experience in certain areas where they should be leaders, these are the store managers and higher. They're in meetings ALL DAY so there's never a chance to really talk to them. Management has shifted IKEA is going thru another transition phase so all these new management roles are being replaced. Our store has no builder, lack of employees because they are treated unfairly, our turnover rate is less than 50%. IF THEY ONLY WORKED THE IKEA VALUES then it would be a great place to work. All I hear is gossip, blaming, lack of competence and the worst walking on eggshells...you can't even be yourself, you have be someone else OR kiss someone's butt. The employees are cool, we all help one another and actually help them do their job and train them properly. We don't blame them for their mistakes. I could go on and on about this location. I've never worked in an environment that was so dysfunctional at everything they do. 

Work-life balance
Ikea gives absolutely no flexibility when it comes to working at the contact center you have a set schedule and if you’re not meeting numbers they give you the worst schedule they don’t care about home life family life Covid anything they put you on the schedule they want you want and that’s it

Pay & benefits
You get it over 40 days per year in January but I have to use those 7 days that’s it! If your sick you better be there or prepared for a Right up! Great be Benefits but all of them aren’t so great

Job security and advancement
It’s clear that IKEA gives you the impression that you can definitely grow in the company but once you become a “Teir2” or “Gen4” You’re not going anywhere just consider yourself property of that department and that’s it you can get wonderful numbers have a great experience but once you get into that position you will not move up in the company and if you do it’ll take you about 5 to 6 years in that position to move up unless you’re good at kissing butt

Management
The CEO of IKEA is in Sweden he cares nothing about the United States division and cares nothing about our success or unsuccessfulness. As far as management in the contact center, they love to micromanage they love to write you up especially with things out of your control and even though they tell you they’re going to endorse you for other positions they don’t because once again when you get to a certain point in the company you don’t move.

Culture
IKEA loves to promote IKEA culture but management alone does not follow it a lot of things they promote you to do and not to do management does the absolute opposite. There’s absolutely no moral in the contact center and there are more people on leave for mental illness because of not only dealing with the calls from the customers but also dealing with the fact that we are unable to change anything with an IKEA there are a lot of things that need to be change externally but the only thing that they care about is changing things internally as far as not coloring at your phones or coming back from break sometime or the amount of calls you take even though people are screaming and yelling at you and you’re completely overwhelmed

Overall
Overall when I first started working at IKEA the company made a lot of promises and made it seem like everything was peaches and roses but once I got the position and I moved up to the position I’m in now I realize that I’m just a number I’m just something that makes money for them and nothing else if I don’t meet my numbers if I don’t meet my quota I can easily be disposable and replaced. IKEA pays well and has good benefits but that’s how they lore you in with the pay and the benefits but ultimately personally I’m at the point where I’m willing to take a pay cut because I’m so miserable in the job that I’m at

I worked at IKEA for a little more then 2 years and it was great. I was originally hired in the food bistro. Entry level. Making minimum wage starting. I got my foot in the door started building my relationships, working hard and within 3 months I was promoted to the sales floor. (Which was my goal from the beginning. I knew I wanted out of stinky pizza and hotdogs. I wanted to have some sort of purpose. I always wanted to run with the big dogs. Anyway. I started In the self serve warehouse. I helped people find and locate there products and load there items for them. It was a really great, small, tight knit group. We all got along great. And the camaraderie was amazing. Still to this day I constantly compare my work atmosphere, to IKEA. Nothing comes close. IKEA shares its employee values right from the beginning to its new hires. And plays a constant theme in your everyday work life. IKEA was originally founded in Stockholm, Sweden by some guy. IKEA really cares for its employees. Random Gift Cards, and Prizes. Company paid work and holiday parties. GREAT FOOD! They never cut corners when I was there. We always indulged in the finest cuisine. We would always be surprised with company paid meals. They have a employee relaxation/Massage quiet room you could go to on break. The Break room is amazing. Full flat screen TVs and sofas. Buffet style, help yourself food (for employees only) for only $3.00. That the IKEA restaurant cooks, and serves. Every day the menu item was different with a FULL salad bar and Soda station. Pepsi products unfortunately. They really knew how to take care of there employees with really great random perks. Which helped compensate for the low pay.  I remember I had a family emergency while working there and needed about a week off. And management was very understanding and caring. Granted me the time off.  Absolutely any issues at all, and Management and Human Resources were very easy to get a hold of and we’re always very understanding with any questions or concerns you had. 
The only cons were IKEA is always super busy. People and coworkers are always overwhelmed and stressed. Always answering the same questions from customers. It is a Very big building, and requires a lot  of walking and physical labor. Also low pay. Last but not least, when I was there management can tend to play a little favoritism, when it comes down to promoting, praising, accomplishments and Acknowledgments. But that’s anywhere. Remember this folks. It’s not what you know but who you know. 
Overall 8/10 stars from me. Thanks IKEA!

If you have food prep experience this job is not hard. This isn't a scratch kitchen pretty much everything is frozen. You will be asked to work multiple positions in the kitchens and that includes cashier. 

Pros:
Breaks- Every shift you get a 15, and if your shift is over 5 hours you have to clock out and take a lunch. They are actually pretty strict on you taking a break like the opposite of most places.
Benefits- If you're HL2 (hours level 2- 21-34 hours a week) you get health and dental benefits. They go through Cigna currently. 
Lunch- We run a staff cafe and meals are 2-4 dollars if you want it.
Flexible schedule- Its pretty easy to get hours that work for you half our department are college kids.
PTO/Sick time- Everyone gets pto and sick time. No matter how many hours you work, it's just different based on your Hours Level but everyone gets it.
Diversity- LGBT friendly. You can have colored hair and tattoos. Supports Black Lives Matter.

Cons:
Pay- It's like it's totally random. You better like what you start with because raises only happen yearly are percentage based on performance and after 2 years I've made 54 cents more than what I started at. They start new people at what it's taken me 2 years to get their pay rates are completely unfair. Food makes more than some other department but honestly do not settle for anything under $11.80.
Management- Honestly I could write an essay on how bad its become. They are currently trying to start changing things up but who knows.
Call outs- It's more suprising when there isn't a call out. It's constant and nothing is done about it. 

This won't sound like a con, but it is and you'll see it. It is pretty impossible to get fired at Ikea. They give so many chances it's ridiculous. People can use up all their sick time and keep calling out and they do not care until it gets Extreme. The entire department recently had an issue with one person, told the same story to hr 20 times over, and literally, nothing happened to this person. No call, no show? No problem! Til like the 5th time and maybe you'll get a write up. 

They treat you all the same, whether you call out once a week and sit on your a**, or show up every day on time and do your job. And it really starts to make you question why you put in an effort when it's so clear that you obviously don't have to and you'd get treated the same. And probably paid less than the other guy. 

This isn't the worst job or company to work for to be honest. Their benefits are the only thing that makes the low pay worth it but they are pretty great for part time and for everything going on right now. But you probably wont want to stick around for years when you realize you arent getting anywhere.



There is a little something for everyone at IKEA. I've been there 10 years and held a handful of different job titles, and have generally enjoyed my time there. Someone who consideres themselves flexible  and embraces constant change will thrive at IKEA. Abundance of different jobs in the store, but often you have to wait for a position to open, and then apply. They don't move internal people around, every opening is posted and every qualified internal and external applicant is given the chance to interview. There are forums employees can join based off of interests (i.e. safety forum, diversity and inclusion forum etc.) Every job I've held has been required to perform at a high standard. The store takes performance very seriously and has a 3 part yearly review process and tons of in-person touch base conversations with leadership. All store goals are shared with consistent transparent performance updates to every person, not just management. There are no walls in the office, leadership and management are very approachable, however there is no internal HR, so if issues arise and your manager cant solve it youre left to reach out to an external HR department where you're provided with very uniform outcomes across the company rather than something specific to your situation.  The people at IKEA are hands down the best part of the job. I have never experienced such a large variety of people from different backgrounds and cultures, and everyone is genuinely nice to each other and care for each other. Uniqueness is valued and celebrated, all holidays from every religion are posted in the hall, culture months are celebrated with flag raisings, activities in the break room and different music playlists. Everyone is encouraged to be the truest version of themselves out loud. At IKEA there is always time for fika (coffee break shared with friends), and breaks are not only encouraged but mandatory. Healthy lunch options are provided at a co-worker rate, and when available, co-worker special menus offer even more yummy options. Work/life balance is decent, yearly milestones are celebrated, PTO is earned, sick time and time off are provided, and overtime is discouraged, requiring approval from upper management. Positions are becoming more specialized since the last restructure; with the introduction of self-ordering kiosks and self-checkouts, the staff that is available on the floor are the staff usually required for more difficult things like kitchen or closet planning, heavy lifting customer assistance and online order fulfillment. 

All in all I dont regret my time at IKEA, and am only leaving due to a life change that requires me to be at home. 

It’s been a challenging adjustment opening a new store in a market, along with navigating new organizational changes, so many IKEA stores have been tested on working routines across the US. However, management at IKEA Memphis has always lacked a good foundation. From hiring processes, to leading and developing staff. To add to the already stressful times of Covid-19, IKEA Memphis management has taken the opportunity to make new outlandish rules/procedures at their whim. We’re overworked, an in a constant state of reaction versus pro-action as a coworker, because management has no clue what they are doing, but expect us to function regardless with very limited support. 
Pre-Covid, times were nonetheless difficult. Imagine coming to work every day and having experience and knowledge from previous education/jobs but being told that your ideas aren’t good enough or doable, so you get no support from other teams and left to implement projects alone. But if the idea comes from a manager’s mouth, even if they repeat your suggestion verbatim, support is magically available and everyone is on board. 

Some managers harass you and talk down to you based on their status and tenure with the company... even if they are wrong and nothing is done about it. How can you have a known tyrant within your organization, with a history of HR violations and compliance issues, but their behavior is disregarded? 

Company values are upheld by very few management members and the managers who disregard them are very obvious. Very limited opportunity for growth unless you sleep with team members under you, apparently or of a particular gender/ethnicity. 

Management members gossip and spread rumors, talk about their team instead of developing, training and encouraging the people they hire. They prefer people who don’t speak up and just follow; which in return they promote, to only further contribute to the chaos and stress in every area. 

IKEA Memphis is fueled off of bias, discrimination, chaos, disorderly reactionary decisions, refusal to be innovative and hire for skills rather than personal preference on top of bad decisions and immaturity. 

But at the end of the day, they’ll throw an ice cream party and bring food trucks or wash your car to make up for it. 

It was really fun when i first started working there the managers and workers were very welcoming and helpful and you really felt supported. They would check in with you personally and professionally and would be hands on with their workers and the work load, it felt like they were with us and not above us, and the pay is more than enough for the work we did. They also allowed us to work independently and trusted us to do our job correctly and professionally without controlling or micromanaging how we operate in our individual areas. Coworkers would often come to the aid of one another if they see another area is struggling and all the priorities of their area were already fulfilled. However there was little to no training and once the managers changed and workers began to leave there was no support. Managers would disappear for hours and expected you to do work that was not in your job description, to pick up the slack due to less workers instead of hiring new people, and instead of correcting the departments who are meant to handle that work, they overloaded us. Talking to other coworkers and helping outside areas was often frowned upon or seen as slacking off even if we are effectively doing our job while doing so and would reprimand us even though  they would sit in one or multiple spots for up to 30minutes or more socializing with managers or workers outside of their areas about non work related things even if the area they are in charge of is suffering or in need of help none of them seemed to be on the same page about what was a priority in our specific job roles and it was really dependent on who was the manager for the day rather than the position’s values and requirements. They were not hands on like the previous managers and would give you assignments to do that they could easily do themselves, even if it interrupts or prolongs what you were currently doing, often times without assistance and would even take you out of your area to help or step in for other positions even if they know it will be  detrimental to the upkeep of your area  ( a complete 180 from the managers before who would see a need and handle it with you if you needed help or without you if it was something that would take less than 10minutes) the overall work environment completely shifted and ruined what otherwise was a dream job. This does NOT apply to all workers of course there are countless of amazing hard working team players! 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Retail sales associate 240 salaries reported	$23.47 per hour
Customer service representative 64 salaries reported	$20.28 per hour
Food service associate 183 salaries reported	$22.34 per hour
Installation technician 2 salaries reported	$29.59 per hour
Sales associate 32 salaries reported	$21.57 per hour

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