Mumbai: In under two months of successfully inaugurating its first store in India in the city of Hyderabad, IKEA India, the Swedish home furnishing retailer is now planning to start its operations in Mumbai, a city of big dreams and limited spaces.
IKEA plans to enter Mumbai with its full offer - large format store, city centre smaller stores and ecommerce to meet many more customers in 2019. With a plan to bring its home furnishing offering to more of the many Mumbaikars, IKEA India will create 10000 jobs (5000 direct & 5000 indirect) in the state of Maharashtra over the coming years to support its operations in the state.
Starting with its Distribution Centre in Chakan to its online and offline stores, IKEA expects to create opportunities across competencies like merchandising, store operations, supply chain and allied assembly services. The first big format store will be in Turbhe, Navi Mumbai and will employ 1000 direct co-workers and 1500 indirect co-workers for various services.
An integral part of the business at IKEA is aimed at creating a workplace that is good for co-workers, customers and business partners. Built upon the principles of diversity, inclusion and equal opportunities for all, IKEA works towards creating a positive workspace which is progressive and inspiring. IKEA is committed to employ 50 percent women at all the levels.
Elaborating on IKEA’s people philosophy, Anna-Carin Månsson, Country People and Culture Manager, IKEA India said, “Our vision is to create a better everyday life for the many people and we relate this vision with our shared humanistic values. These values are the foundation of our work and our inclusive, empathising, open and honest culture. At IKEA, we believe in value-based recruitment, where the core values of an individual is considered and not the CV. We provide equal opportunities to all our co-workers, help them grow and enable them to follow their passion. We are very excited to meet the many talented people of Mumbai who will bring their uniqueness to IKEA and strengthen our values. We would like to welcome all those who share our values to join us! ”
To provide unique opportunities for its co-workers to grow at work, IKEA has employee friendly policies such as day care facilities (DAGIS), parental leave policy, transport policy, competence development, mentoring, pension plan etc. IKEA’s commitment to its coworkers is not just limited to its direct and indirect workers but also extends to the local supplier ecosystem that focusses on better wages and working conditions for supplier’s co-workers.
Commenting on the operational plans, Per Hornell, Market Manager Maharashtra, IKEA India said, “Maharashtra is an extremely important market for us. We have been sourcing from the state for many decades and now we are ready to enter the market in 2019 with our full offer to be able to serve all the customers. Mumbai is unique in terms of its lively and diverse culture, entrepreneurial spirit and creative use of space. We believe that IKEA’s core values and traditions integrate with these characteristics as we aim to be a part of everyday lives of ‘Mumbaikars’ through our solutions and services.”
Mr Rajesh Kumar, Principal Secretary, Labour Department, Government of Maharashtra said, “As IKEA will launch its store in Mumbai next year, they will create around 10000 direct and indirect job opportunities contributing to the growth of the retail sector in the State. Their idea of inclusion and equality are very much in line with Maharashtra government’s development initiatives.” The philanthropic arm of the IKEA Group - IKEA Foundation, in partnership with public and private partners is supporting women empowerment in India under a skill development project called DISHA. The program is aimed at skilling one million women to enable them to join the workforce.
The IKEA Hyderabad store has employed close to 100 women from this program. IKEA also works very closely with women social entrepreneurs under its social entrepreneur program where close to 1500 women in India are making limited edition products for India.
