At IKEA, we believe that gender equality at home and at work live at the core of gender equality in society. The IKEA Australia median gender pay gap is 6.1%, significantly below the national average.
While we are proud of our efforts to reduce the gender pay gap, we know there is still more work to be done. Closing the gender gap is a key part of our mission to foster a diverse and inclusive IKEA Australia workforce which, which is good for our co-workers, our customers and our business.
Globally, IKEA is committed to achieving a 50/50 gender balance in all levels and positions, including boards and committees.
Currently 52.9% of the total IKEA Australia workforce are women. 47% of all manager roles across the business are female, led by CEO & Chief Sustainability Officer Mirja Viinanen. This is above the national average of 42%.
Inclusive hiring workshops and unconscious bias training for all hiring managers, as well as gender balance in interview panels and inclusive succession planning are an important part of our work to increase the number of women in leadership positions.
In the Australian retail sector, IKEA is supporting working parents with an industry-leading paid parental leave policy from the first day of employment, meaning there is no minimum tenure limiting access. Up to 26 weeks paid leave is available for all co-workers, regardless of family formation, and superannuation will now be paid on any unpaid parental leave a co-worker elects to take – up to 26 weeks.
Another significant shift we’ve made is the opportunity for any retail store co-worker to work on a fixed roster. This change has been made to give co-workers flexibility, but also predictability in their schedules to better accommodate life outside of work, including organising caring and family commitments around work. We recognise the imbalance that exists with women primarily carrying the burden of childcare, and believe offering fixed rosters releases a barrier for women with families considering retail as a career, and gaining financial independence through that career.
IKEA is proud to be accredited as a Family Inclusive Workplace, with a dedicated plan to support parents manage work-life balance.
All co-workers within IKEA Australia can request a Flexible Work Arrangement to better manage their work/life balance in a healthy way. This can include hours of work, start and finish times, patterns of work or changes in normal work location.
As part of our Family Friendly Workplace Action Plan, we are also developing our approach to encourage men to access flexible work arrangements and leave entitlements to normalise men increasing their caring responsibilities, help change the narrative around accepted gender norms and further reduce our gender pay gap.