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Ikea founder calls for more job cuts

Published: 7 Jul 09 08:04 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/20502/20090707/

Swedish furniture retailing giant Ikea needs to shed more employees, company founder Ingvar Kamprad said in an interview published on Monday.

Ikea has already made 5,000 employees redundant around the world, but it now appears the company is prepared to let more people go.

“We need to reduce our personnel further, especially within manufacturing and logistics. It’s both about adjusting to sales which are well below what we budgeted for and becoming more effective,” Kamprad told the Dagens Industri (DI) newspaper.

In Sweden, Ikea has already cut 420 positions.

Kamprad, who is 83 and set up Ikea in 1943 as a teenager, explained sales were 7 percent below what the company had budgeted for.

"That corresponds to 8 billion kronor ($1 billion) on an annual basis which we have to adjust to," he was quoted as saying.

Kamprad, who now lives in tax exile in Switzerland, also said the company would hire a few thousand people to work at its 14 new stores planned to open worldwide this year.

Ikea is an unlisted, privately-owned company and therefore does not release regular earnings reports, but outgoing managing director Anders Dahlvig has said it expects sales of €21.5 billion ($30.1 billion) excluding currency effects for its fiscal year ending August 31st.

TT/The Local (news@thelocal.se/08 656 6518)

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09:41 July 7, 2009 by ziabach
oh bugger, their goes my plan of getting a job at Ikea and them transferring me to Sweden after a few years :P
09:11 July 8, 2009 by Durai
Oh,this is really a Fate.

Even Ikea is affected by recession.
01:21 July 11, 2009 by Faunaman
Holy s++t, how can the possibly reduce personnel?

You ask someone - What do you do?

He says: - I work at IKEA

Yo say: - F++k you!! it´s ME the one who works at IKEA, I choose, look for the colours and the models, go to the warehouse, pick up the package, I do the self pay thingy, transport it home and the assemblen it.

Where there used to be cashiers theres now only one checking that everybody pays the items.

How could they possibly reduce personnel???? Giving us the keys to the shops??Sending us to China to pick up the items???
05:28 July 12, 2009 by dan_sparrow
HAHAHHA I THINK EVERYBODY MUST MOVE TO SWISS AND NOT PAY TAX!...

I REALLY FEEL SORRY OF THOSE WHO WORK FOR THIS MOR-KNULARE XD
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