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 lac
ProsParental leave, pto, really cool people to work with
ConsThe list keeps growing by the years there is not enough space on here
2.0
New Home Sales Consultant | Canton, MI | Aug 17, 2020
Sometimes enjoyable but heavily flawed workplace
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
Customer Specialist | White Marsh, MD | Oct 26, 2020
Apply if you don’t mind being miserable
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 prom
4.0
Food Service Worker | Las Vegas, NV | Dec 27, 2020
It's good if you need part time hours and health benefits
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 kno
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
ProsBenefits are the only thing keeping coworker’s here
Consshort breaks, unreasonable responsibility with no training, management, no growth opportunities unless you leave your location unless they block you from doing so, discrimination, inequality practices, HR misleads with incorrect information, does not live by values
2.0
Business Consultant | Memphis, TN | Feb 20, 2020
Think twice before applying
I started here when they first opened back in 2016. I could easily say back then I would recommend this as a place to work. Once the restructure happened with the company it has been a down spiral with company. Managers either left the company or went on sabbatical because of the stress of the job. When it came to coworkers if you did not follow or conform to the way the managers feel like things should go even if its against policy or its just wrong you will get penalize for it. They continue to hire leaders and managers who are incompetent has no experience. They try to hide this by either moving leaders or demoting them. My job when I first started was very enjoyable, I felt as if the tools I need were giving to me to grow.My manager and lead at the time were great support and made sure we knew the job with no problem. They worked with us on trying get us to our next career path with IKEA. It seem like they promoted those IKEA values the preached to us back before the store opened. Once I moved under a new manager in the new ways of working my new job I enjoyed because I seem like I actually became part of helping increase sales but I did not like the managers and leads. The mangers and the leads in this new system seem like they were always stress and over worked. They seem to always talk down to employees an make them feel as if they were not doing a proficient job. They never knew the policies and hated when employees called them out on it. They could not keep leads or
Prosemployee discount, pto, paid leave, medical benefits
Warehouse Worker | Philadelphia, PA | Aug 20, 2018
If you can handle these conditions then you will enjoy working at IKEA
IKEA warehouse has become a bad place to work ever since they changed the structure of how we work with this thing they call 04G. Managers only look out for other managers, so you can be thrown under the bus for their mistakes. They do not train new employees, they will make bad choices and don't listen to the ideas that will make work smarter and easier, it's a my way or the highway environment. Adults act like children they would rather invade and gossip about someone elses life instead of working and worrying about their own. I see how of a manager doesn't like you they will try to get you fired. Its not a good place to work, they have good benefits and the money is ok, but they see problems and find the worst solutions. There will be days they only schedule 2 people for a 4 person job so you will have to pick up the slack otherwise they will ask why things weren't done weather it was their fault for lack of coworkers. The store closes at 9 you have a hour and a half to finish up so you would be scheduled until 10:30 but may end up staying until 11, one time I was there until midnight because they are all about making the sale so you may end up having to do an order for a 200 piece kitchen at 11 PM. Forget about a set schedule IKEA policy is no set schedules for anybody except managers. If you can only work certain times they will allow you to request it but only at the risk of almost always getting denied or if it is approved they will cut your hours. I am giving you the
ProsBenefits, meeting interesting people
ConsManagement, work ways, schedule, my way or the highway mindset, so many more cons
3.0
Sales Associate | Paramus, NJ | Sep 23, 2015
It has it's ups and downs
The culture of the IKEA is the most pronounced you can imagine - unless you're already Swedish. There are clear goals, frequent meetings and trainings, and yearly performance reviews. As a sales associate, your main job is to do the following:
1. Point the direction of the exit as exasperated shoppers claim they've been lost for an hour.
2. Put each item back where it belongs on corresponding shelves and bins.
3. Put back all the things shoppers end not buying. 3 carts worth on a weekday morning shift, 12 carts for a weekday night shift, 20 carts for a morning Saturday shift, and roughly 1000 carts for an evening/night shift on a weekend.
4. Look up products on a computer, instruct shopper where to find it. (Or, more often, tell them it isn't in stock despite it saying "in stock" online as well as the person on the phone saying it's in stock and having to absorb their anger while feeling entirely hopeless.
5. Move heavy pallets with use of hand carts. You'll run over your foot at least once.
6. Frequently feeling overwhelmed as you realize they are understaffed and still expect perfection.
6. Managers are either fantastic, or lazy and incompetent. The good managers are always on the floor helping their coworkers and delegating duties to make the night go efficiently as well as handle heated conflicts. The lazy ones take multiple breaks, delegate all work or expect work to be accomplished without instruction. It is very easy to hide at IKEA and still seem "to be arou
ConsWeekend shifts are backbreaking, often understaffed, some lazy managers, almost zero upward mobility, constant smell of cinnamon buns
2.0
Customer Service Associate / Cashier | Covina, CA | Feb 22, 2021
Great place for beginners and seasonal positions
** HONEST OPINION/REVIEW **
The employees were great; management treated you fairly well since HR is upstairs. Although there is nepotism among permanent employees; seasonal workers will work their hardest only to look at permanent workers not working as hard and talking to each other on the clock.
Management also had a tendency to have no communication between each other which makes you very feel very lost when you are stuck trying to help a customer; you risk having a manager/supervisor constantly correcting your actions and then getting upset about having to do such. One lead will tell you one thing and then the other lead will say the proper thing, so you end up not knowing which is the proper thing (which is very hard as a starting employee).
I was a seasonal worker and there was about 3 phases of other seasonals. So each had different terms, but there was opportunities for extensions. From looking at the coworkers who were hired around the time I was the majority had finished their terms instead of pursuing their extensions and I wish I would have.
Working here leaves you feeling depressed and overworked. Customers treat you pretty badly (some managers are very empathetic, while others not so much). I have had at least 3 bad experiences of escalation, no one will help you even if the customer is screaming ( from personal experience). They will all continue their jobs and ignore the situation (this leads to the possibilities of you ending up in physical situations [
Pros-Great Culture -Great pay -Great benefits (if you get them)
Cons-Passive aggressive management -Nepotism -Mentally straining -Lack of opportunities
1.0
Merchandiser | Atlanta, GA | Jul 10, 2018
Beware
Ikea as a whole is a very good company. However I would be very concerned for anyone applying to work at store level at Ikea in Atlantic station. The hours are unpredictable, the jobs description is VERY tentative, good leaders are far and few between. They pay what I call new age minimum wage and you can expect to be told to be a team player while leaders make double and triple your salary. I have a team memeberstill in college making upwards of $5/ hour more than me when I was asked why I wasn’t offered the same amount with my degree related to the field and 10 years experience I was told that “it was the best that could be offered to me.” This store spreads its coworkers tissue paper thin. There’s no coworkers to assist customers because there are barely any working in the store and the turn over rate is well over 50% unless you’re a leader because of course you’re making $20+/ hour. The store manager is doing nothing to alleviate the stress of the staff and is constantly pinching pennies at the expense of the lower level employees. Be prepared to be available full time hours even if you only work part time and Hours are cut at any time without notice. Ask the leaders who interview you LOTS of questions about the position you’re applying to because they will lie and omit information to have a body on the floor. A lot of the jobs at Ikea require u to do the jobs of three or more people (you may end up on stuck onthe register, assisting customers, and picking up furniture
ProsGood workers
ConsNo transparency, bad management, under paid, over worked
Questions And Answers about IKEA
What kind of drug test do they do?
Asked Apr 20, 2017
They did an urine test
Answered Dec 14, 2019
No if you failed a drug test you weren't hired
Answered Dec 14, 2019
What is the best part of working at IKEA?
Asked Mar 14, 2020
The money.
Answered Nov 19, 2020
The friends you make are forever. Work doesn't always feel like work. They make the hard days a little easier.
Answered Oct 1, 2020
What advice would you give the CEO of IKEA about how to improve it?
Asked Apr 2, 2017
IKEA has misprioritized its charitable giving over investing in employee wages, advertising or reliable technology. It is losing an increasing share of the market and some of it's best talent by slashing wages and marketing budgets. Important programs crash regularly so even if you get customers to the store their experience, and your experience as a seller, is frustrating.
Answered May 16, 2020
How more meetings about the business to let people know what's going on
Answered Dec 14, 2019
What is a typical day like for you at IKEA?
Asked Mar 14, 2020
Your tasks are always the same. You clock in, go to your work station and get the day started. For the most part you already know what you need to do, the managers don't lead but they criticize every chance they get.
Answered Nov 19, 2020
Depending where they need you, you'll grab a till. If its opening shift, stock everything just in case it didn't happen last night. Extra steps with sanitizing, I spray everything down and wipe the things I'll physically touch. And then, help customers until break time. Pretty straight forward.
Answered Oct 1, 2020
How flexible are your working hours at IKEA?
Asked Mar 14, 2020
They're not. They expect you to have completely open availability that reflects the needs of the company.
Answered Nov 19, 2020
We different levels, the typical ones: 1, 2, and 3. I was HL1, which was 12-19 hours, but I've always worker 25-30 hours. You're allowed to go up or down hours so its pretty flexible. Just ask a lead. Communication is key.
