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Ikea is giving every member of its staff £1,200

'We want to be an amazing place to work, where people are happy, thrive and want to stay'

Will Worley
Sunday 04 December 2016 15:13 GMT
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Ikea staff will receive a £1,200 gift from the company this Christmas.

Around the world, workers will receive a share of a €108m pot as part of the company loyalty scheme.

The money will be added to worker’s pensions.

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“We want to be an amazing place to work, where people are happy, thrive and want to stay. We know that our colleagues primarily want to work for us because we are a values-based company with a focus on development," human relations manager Karin Bergman told The Local.

However, the money still falls short of the John Lewis and Waitrose bonus scheme, which handed its employees an average payment of £1,585 each from a pot of £145 million. However, the amount has decreased in recent years due to lower profits. Unlike the Ikea Christmas bonus, the John Lewis gives the money to its employees in cash.

Ikea was the first national retailer to introduce the living wage in the UK, and staff in London now receive £9.75 an hour and those outside the capital are paid £8.45 an hour.

The company also restructured work its working hours so employees were guaranteed at least one full weekend off a month.

“If you feel good at home you will show up in a better frame of mind at work. That impacts our customers,” Gillian Drakeford, UK head of operations, has said.

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