IKEA announces new commitments to support integration of refugees

IKEA today announces new commitments for forcibly displaced people by 2027 at the UNHCR Global Refugee Forum in Geneva, Switzerland. With these commitments, IKEA continues its work to the integration of refugees by supporting them in finding meaningful work, promoting their social inclusion, and empowering them to advocate for their rights. 

• 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.
• IKEA Social Entrepreneurship along with Cisco Foundation and implementation partner NESsT, 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. 

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. IKEA believes that all people deserve respect, dignity, and opportunities. 

“By 2030, our ambition is to play our full part in contributing to a fair and equal society, by respecting human rights, creating a positive impact for people across our value chain and contributing to resilient societies”, says Lars-Erik Fridolfsson, Head of Fair & Equal at Inter IKEA Group. “By working together across the IKEA value chain and collaborating with partners, such as UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, we deepen the support for the integration of refugees.” 

Ingka Group: Integration, upskilling and training 
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 comes after the company reached and surpassed its 2019 commitment to support 2,500 people by 2023 through its Skills for Employment programme. 

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.

IKEA Social Entrepreneurship in partnership in a Refugee Employment Initiative
IKEA Social Entrepreneurship supports social entrepreneurs to create social impact inside and beyond the IKEA value chain. Through a combination of capacity-building accelerator programmes, impact investments and social business partnerships, it aims to improve livelihoods and create income opportunities for people from vulnerable and marginalised groups. 

“IKEA Social Entrepreneurship has, in collaboration with our partner NESsT and the Cisco Foundation, launched the NESsT Refugee Employment Initiative. This joint effort aims to support fifteen enterprises already working or intending to engage with refugees and migrants in Poland and Romania. The overarching goal is to significantly enhance the prospects and lives of refugees and migrants through sustainable employment and support services generating 3,000 job opportunities and positively impacting the lives of 5,000 refugees and migrants”, says Åsa Skogström Feldt, Manager, IKEA Social Entrepreneurship. 

Inter IKEA Group and Jordan River Foundation 
In 2017 Inter IKEA Group started working together with Jordan River Foundation (JRF). Today, more than 370 refugees and Jordanian women work on the co-creation and production of IKEA textile products. Over the past five years, the partnership has proven to be successful in both economic empowerment and a change model to achieve long-lasting integration. IKEA now renews the commitment, aiming for employment of 400 women, refugees and local Jordanians by 2027, with an increased effort in youth skills training and employment in the collaboration. 

IKEA Foundation 
Also, the IKEA Foundation, the strategic philanthropy that operates independent from IKEA announced that they have surpassed their commitment to refugees. In 2019, the IKEA Foundation committed EUR 100 million to empower refugees to develop pathways towards economic self-reliance. The Foundation exceeded its commitment and is currently implementing multiyear projects that serve more than 70,000 refugees and their host communities in East Africa. The Foundation’s projects also benefit 350,000 individuals in the refugee and host community ecosystem indirectly. 

Since 2009 the IKEA Foundation has granted more than EUR 300 million towards transformative refugee livelihoods programmes.

Per Heggenes, CEO of IKEA Foundation: “If refugees are given the opportunity, we have seen how their extraordinary talent and drive can provide the growth and development of a host community. When refugees and host community work together to build the economy, we can achieve self-reliance for everyone. It is time for us to come together and invest in these communities so we can empower refugees to be a catalyst for positive social and economic transformation.”