Ikea receives 800 applications for each role ahead of Auckland opening

By Amy Williams, RNZ

The global retailer Ikea is getting about 800 applications for each role it advertises ahead of opening its first New Zealand store this year.

Ikea is spending $407 million on setting up operations in New Zealand with an Auckland store due to open in Sylvia Park towards the end of this year – an exact date is yet to be announced.

That cost includes recruiting 400 people.

Ikea New Zealand market manager Johanna Cederlof said 20 senior management positions fulfilled so far have each attracted between 700 and 800 applications.

“This start has positively surprised, we knew that the figures would be high but this high is really positive and it gives us hope that for the next roles we’ll receive an even higher amount of applications,” she said.

“We are focusing on recruiting for long term here locally ... people who have lived here, know the market and can support us establishing our business.”

The labour market is expected to remain tight in the first half of this year and an economic recovery is predicted to be months away.

There were many high-profile job losses last year, in the public and private sector, including the closure of a paper mill in Auckland where 75 people worked.

“Looking at the current situation, I think any movement in the employment market creates hope for a better future,” Cederlof said.

Mass recruitment for the Ikea Sylvia Park store team begins this year, with the bulk of the 400 positions being advertised from April.

Cederlof said upcoming roles would be in sales, food, interior design, warehouse, customer service, logistics and more.

“We’ve been building a strong employment offer with some policies and benefits that might deviate from what New Zealand is used to.”

She said benefits included a staff cafeteria at reduced prices, a living wage as a starting point and five weeks paid annual leave.

The new Ikea store will have three levels with a ground-level car park on the first floor. It will feature a Swedish restaurant and food market, as well as two full-scale houses as part of its showroom displays.

Naylor Love has been appointed construction project manager of the site, which has been designed by Australian architects.

The iconic blue walls on the building’s exterior started being installed towards the end of last year and the yellow branding will follow later this year.

The new Ikea store as it looked at Mt Wellington in early December 2024 when around a quarter of the exterior had the distinctive blue colour added. Photo / supplied by Ikea

The building requires 4800 tonnes of structural steel, twice the amount used in a typical Ikea store partly due to seismic requirements and because the building is higher than others around the world.

The projected $407m includes recruitment, building and fitting out the store, land acquisition, setting up online shopping and the local supply chain.