IKEA staff to get the living wage from April

Good news for the Reading employment market – furniture giant IKEA has promised to become the first major chain store to pay staff a “real” living wage.

The company, which has a superstore in Holywood Exchange, recently recruited another 40 staff in Belfast and has a workforce of around 9,000 across the UK.

Now 400 workers are employed at the 269,000 sq ft shop, just off the M6 at Park Lane, and most are from the Black Country.

A consortium of unions and other campaigners have put the living wage for Ireland at €11.50 per hour, although it’s not yet known on what basis Ikea will calculate its rate.

This could well lead to retailers choosing to employ young people under this age limit rather than more experienced staff. They may also be tempted to let staff go when they approach their 25th birthday.

“We are committed to paying the Living Wage to our co-workers in Ireland by April 2016”.

Rhys Moore, director of The Living Wage Foundation, said: “We are delighted with this momentous announcement that Ikea will be accrediting as a Living Wage employer”.

IKEA’s boss Gillian Drakeford said: “Our people are our inner strength, so it is only right to ensure we provide a meaningful wage that supports the cost of living”.

But, like U.S. business owners facing a move toward a higher minimum wage, many in the business community are anxious that the higher wages will necessitate hard decisions and perhaps even loss of jobs.

The Living Wage is the latest in a series of investments that Ikea has made in its co-workers over the past two years.