The global retailer Ikea is getting about 800 applications for senior management roles ahead of opening its first New Zealand store this year.
Ikea is spending $407 million on setting up 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 Cederlöf 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 was expected to remain tight in the first half of this year and an economic recovery was 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,” Cederlöf said.
Mass recruitment for the IKEA Sylvia Park store team would begin this year, with the bulk of the 400 positions being advertised from April.
Cederlöf 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 would be three levels with a ground-level car park on the first floor. It would 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 wouldl follow later this year.
The building required 4800 tonnes of structural steel, twice the amount used in a typical Ikea store partly due to seismic requirements and because the building was higher than others around the world.
The projected $407 million included recruitment, building and fitting out the store, land acquisition, setting up online shopping and the local supply chain.