Ikea NZ adds extra jobs as overwhelming demand catches retailer off guard

Ikea has been overwhelmed by demand since opening its first store in New Zealand in December. Photo / Corey Fleming

Swedish retailing giant Ikea is adding a further 85 jobs at its flagship New Zealand store due to overwhelming demand since opening last month.

The roles include logistics and food services, as well as adding evening shifts for stock replenishment.

Ikea was forced to pause its click and collect and some delivery services less than two weeks out from Christmas as it scrambled to fix order and payment issues.

The retailer apologised to affected customers saying it was “learning and quickly adapting our operations to meet this incredible level of demand”.

Lauren Clegg, Ikea New Zealand’s people and culture manager, said the response from New Zealanders since opening has been incredible.

“We’re proud to be growing our team to meet that demand while staying true to our values.

“Opening in a new market has its share of challenges and learnings for our team. We’re committed to listening, improving and supporting our co‑workers along the way.”

The new additions will bring Ikea New Zealand’s total workforce to 561.

Clegg said Ikea was investing in competitive pay, meaningful benefits and everyday support for employees.

This included increasing entry-level pay rates and offering FareShare, a subsidised transport programme offering 75% off commuting costs for Ikea co-workers.

In an exclusive interview with the Herald, outgoing Ingka Group chief executive Jesper Brodin said he took the blame for suggesting the store should be open to everyone, everywhere from day one.

Brodin was forthcoming about how the company was overwhelmed at launch, noting that while it had some ambitious thoughts about the demand, it still managed to surprise them with some areas selling more than double the company’s highest expectations.

“Globally in Ikea today we have about 25-30% of our sales from online. In New Zealand, it was 50% from day one, so we had never heard of that before. I don’t know if we could have figured that out ahead of time, but we didn’t, so we’re learning,” Brodin said.

In its first month, Ikea New Zealand has had 569,417 in-person visitors since opening on December 4, with the website attracting 1.9 million users and generating more than 12 million page views.