Some American Ikea employees are getting slapped with pay cuts -- and they worry it'll spark a exodus

[RandySF]

Some Ikea US store employees will be ringing in the new year with pay cuts.

Employees have told Business Insider that some managers and team leads have had their salaries slashed, thanks to O4G — or organization for growth.

O4G, which officially rolled out on October 15, 2017 throughout Ikea US, restructured store employee roles and store departments. As a result of altered job descriptions and the elimination of certain shopkeeper-level gigs, some employees will see a pay cut on January 1, 2019. One employee even described the situation of a colleague who was told a promotion would come with a pay cut, thanks to the restructuring.

Affected employees have been aware of said cuts since O4G launched. In its initial announcement regarding the restructuring, Ikea US also extended pay protection until 2019.

O4G has proven controversial with employees, to the extent that Ikea US President Lars Petersson recently apologized to workers for issues with its rollout. Ikea US has also announced its intention of bumping up the pay for employees in certain stores and departments. Still, many employees, whom Ikea calls coworkers, took issue with the method by which Ikea US went about launching O4G — especially in regards to the pay cuts.

"Everyone would have respected Ikea more if they'd done something dramatic like shutting down for a half a day so that they could get a meeting with all the coworkers and just say, 'Listen, we realize that we've been doing some things wrong,'" former customer-service coordinator Gene Bender told Business Insider.


https://www.sfgate.com/technology/businessinsider/article/Some-American-Ikea-employees-are-getting-slapped-13501600.php?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

[NBachers]

1. I work in the plumbing dept. of a San Francisco hardware store. I dread seeing Ikea fixtures come in

When they stop working, people bring them in, expecting that I'll give them some replacement for a defective part. Unfortunately, these replacement parts don't exist, or if they do, they're difficult to find. Contacting Ikea is useless or impossible.

[912gdm]

5. I worked in hardware for Home Depot for a couple years.

I felt your dread. Anytime someone said Ikea it was like a knitting needle being driven though my eardrum.

[RandySF]

7. I hate their "furniture".

We're supposed to put everything together but nothing was ever drilled correctly.

[Leith]

2. They don't pay well already

https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/IKEA-Salaries-E3957.htm

A front end cashier makes $10 to $12 per hour. Are they slashing pay for jobs like that?

[TeamPooka]

3. "a promotion would come with a pay cut" #SuckerNation

[Flaleftist]

4. Yes, but the good news is you do get to work more hours.

[KentuckyWoman]

6. Basically, Ikea cut a lot of middle management salary positions

If a salaried manager was facing a pay cut they knew in October 2017 that it would kick in Jan 1 2019. They've had a year to decide whether they want to stick in out in their new role or go shopping for a new job.

Hourly staff either stayed at the same salary or got a raise, depending on their new role. Everyone took a test to help decide who goes into what role. The article says many people didn't take it seriously and lost out on a raise because of it.

My nephew was a department manager at Ikea in Atlanta for only a few years before this came along. His position was cut and he was offered a team leader position at an hourly rate. Based on 40 hrs he will make about 10% less. However, he found out his costs for benefits is lower and he also gets more paid time off. If he can get some overtime work he comes out ahead, has less stress and gets to stay with an employer he likes. He believes in the functional model and thinks it really will provide better service, and ultimately, improve sales. He's willing to step back before moving forward again.

Most of the other department heads have left his store. They were with Ikea a decade or more didn't want to give anything up.

Amazon and Wayfair are giving Ikea a tough run. Only time will see how it all plays out.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

8. what is Lars Petersson's compensation?

[AwakeAtLast]

9. I hated IKEA

Three hours of my life I'm never getting back.