CHARLOTTE ó IKEA, a Swedish home furnishings retailer, said today it has begun recruiting 400 people to work at its future Charlotte store, set to open next spring in the University City area.
The Charlotte store is the Swedish company’s first store and restaurant in the Carolinas. It will be IKEA’s fifth store in the Southeast and 36th in the United States.
People interested in applying for a job who do not have a home computer can go to a N.C. Employment Security Commission JobLink Career Center or local library for online computer access.
To apply for positions at IKEA’s Charlotte store, a person should go online to the company’s Web site, www.IKEA-USA.com.
“We are thrilled to offer interested jobseekers diverse positions with limitless opportunity at a global company,” said Richard Castanon, who will manage the new store in Charlotte. “At IKEA, we realize that the ability to do the things in life that bring success and happiness is extremely valuable to our coworkers.”
While IKEA Charlotte progresses through construction and outfitting, a variety of positions are open to local residents.
The Charlotte store offers positions in home furnishings sales, interior decoration, customer service, safety and security, cashiers, maintenance, goods flow, receiving, warehouse and stock replenishment.
Also, among the 400 total positions to be hired for the store are about 75 food service workers who will staff a restaurant, Swedish food market, bistro and employee cafeteria.
IKEA has been named in to Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For for three consecutive years. The company employs more than 11,000 people in the U.S. and 130,000 globally.
IKEA says it offers “family-friendly initiatives and diverse workplace benefits, including full medical and dental insurance” to employees working 20 or more hours a week “with eligibility for domestic partners and children.”
Employees working less than 20 hours a week can still get medical and dental insurance for themselves.
Other benefits include vacation, paid maternity/paternity leave and paid time off for child adoption, tuition assistance, 401(k) match, professional development, training and mentoring programs and, of course, a discount on IKEA purchases. The organization puts career opportunity into the hands of the individual, encouraging coworkers to consider assignments within different functions at other IKEA stores or even in other countries.
“IKEA prides itself on the fact that an opportunity to work at IKEA truly can evolve into a career and also can serve as a gateway to global experience as well,” the company said.
The store is under construction on 25 acres at the northeastern corner of Interstate 85 and City Boulevard.