Ingka Group, the largest IKEA retailer, is launching a new commitment to increase the employability of an additional 3,000 refugees and asylum seekers by the end of 2027. This new commitment, which is announced today at the UNHCR Global Refugee Forum in Geneva, Switzerland, comes after the company reached and surpassed its 2019 goal to support 2,500 people by 2023 through its Skills for Employment programme.
“We are absolutely convinced that refugees and asylum seekers bring skills, diversity and different perspectives that benefit our business and society”
– Tolga Öncü, Ingka Retail Manager
Ingka Group has supported 2,935 asylum seekers and refugees from 2019 to 2023 with 54% finding jobs inside or outside IKEA over the past three years. Additionally, since 2022, the company has directly hired 332 forcibly displaced people through its Displaced Talent programme.
“We’re humble, yet proud that our commitment to integrate refugees into the workforce is proving to be robust, sustainable and built for the long-term”, says Tolga Öncü, Ingka Retail Manager. “We are absolutely convinced that refugees and asylum seekers bring skills, diversity and different perspectives that benefit our business and society.”
Additionally, Ingka Group has engaged with more than 700 businesses to inspire them to open pathways to decent work for refugees and sharing the lessons learned in a Skills for Employment toolkit.
At the same time, other IKEA entities today announce new commitments for forcibly displaced people.
- IKEA Social Entrepreneurship along with Cisco Foundation and implementation partner NESsT, will support an initiative that aims to create 3.000 long-term jobs that positively impact over 5.000 refugees and migrants in Poland and Romania.
- Inter IKEA Group continues its partnership with Jordan River Foundation, creating long term employment for 400 refugee women and local female artisans and co-creating products for IKEA.
Also, the IKEA Foundation, the strategic philanthropy that operates independent from IKEA, announced that they have surpassed their commitment to refugees. The Foundation exceeded its 2019 commitment of EUR 100 million to empower refugees and is currently implementing multiyear projects that serve more than 70,000 refugees and their host communities in East Africa.
According to the latest UNHCR estimations, by the end of September 2023, 114 million people around the world have been forced to flee their homes, with last year seeing the biggest jump in the number of forcibly displaced people ever.
About Ingka Group:
With IKEA retail operations on 31 markets, Ingka Group is the largest IKEA retailer and represents about 90% of IKEA retail sales. It is a strategic partner to develop and innovate the IKEA business and help define common IKEA strategies. Ingka Group owns and operates IKEA sales channels under franchise agreements with Inter IKEA Systems B.V. It has three business areas: IKEA Retail, Ingka Investments and Ingka Centres. Read more on www.Ingka.com.
Media enquiries
For further information, journalists and media professionals can contact us at press.office@ingka.com or by calling +46 70 993 6376.
