IKEA Australia reduces Gender Pay Gap

The IKEA Australia median total remuneration gender pay gap is 3.5%, below the retail industry average of 9% and significantly below the national average of 21.8%.

We have significantly reduced our Gender Pay Gap from last year, through a range of progressive policies and actions. These include an industry-leading paid parental leave policy with superannuation for both paid and unpaid parental leave, and a focus on inclusive hiring and unconscious bias in our recruitment teams. 

At IKEA, we believe that gender equality at home and at work live at the core of gender equality in society. We believe we have a responsibility to enable fair and equitable opportunities for women to flourish at home and at work.

While we are proud of our efforts to reduce the gender pay gap, we know there is still more work to be done and to maintain the advances we have made takes consistent effort. 

Globally, IKEA is committed to achieving a 50/50 gender balance in all levels and positions, including boards and committees, which we have achieved this year in Australia. Currently 54% of the total IKEA Australia workforce are women. 50% of all manager roles across the business are women, led by CEO & Chief Sustainability Officer Mirja Viinanen.

We believe that gender equality benefits everyone in society, and a diverse and inclusive IKEA Australia workforce is good for our co-workers, our customers and our business.  

Key actions and policies include: 

Paid parental leave policy - IKEA is supporting working parents with paid parental leave from the first day of employment, with a maximum 26 weeks of paid parental leave, regardless of family formation. Superannuation is also paid for any period of both paid and unpaid parental leave, a crucial improvement to lessen the financial impact for parents taking time out of the workforce – especially for women, who experience the gender pay gap. 

Family Inclusive Workplace - IKEA is proud to be accredited as a Family Inclusive Workplace, with a dedicated plan to support parents manage work-life balance. As part of our Family Friendly Workplace Action Plan, we are 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. We also offer Grandparents leave, to support families in their broadest definition. 

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. 

Flexible Work Arrangements - 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. 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.