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IKEA's retailer's solved global 'unhappy worker' crisis by raising salaries

In 2022 around a third of Ikea's global workforce quit, costing the company an average of $5,000 per employee.

“Attracting, developing, and retaining frontline talent must become a top agenda item for retail CEOs,” the McKinsey report said, noting the challenge has only grown amid inflation and an environment where labor unions are increasingly flexing their muscles. Privately held Ikea, whose 473 stores in 63 markets employ nearly 200,000 people, historically lost fewer workers than its industry peers, thanks in part to a Nordic corporate culture that’s known for being warmer and fuzzier than, say, US discount giants Dollar General Corp. or Walmart Inc. But managing a sprawling, global workforce in an era where work-life balance has become mandatory for many people isn’t easy, and signs emerged that it wasn’t all Swedish meatballs and bliss amid Ikea’s endless aisles of Billy bookcases and Stockholm rugs.

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