Winnipeggers aren’t just excited about shopping at IKEA, they’re also pumped to work there.
The iconic Swedish furniture maker’s nearly 400,000-square-foot location is nearing completion – it’s on schedule to have its ribbon-cutting ceremony in late November or early December – and it has been inundated with people looking for work. In the month following the announcement that it was planning to hire up to 350 “co-workers,” IKEA received more than 3,000 online applications for everything from working on the shop floor and behind the cashier, to IT, design and restaurant staff.
Stephen Bobko, the manager of the Winnipeg store, said he has begun the process of hiring his management team. Conducting interviews, he noted, is considerably more difficult when your workplace is under construction.
“I don’t have an office for people to come to so we have to find a mutually agreeable restaurant or other place to meet in town,” he said.
Bobko said he expects the store will draw customers from neighbouring provinces and states upon its opening.
Tourism Winnipeg agrees and says that should be a boon to local restaurants, hotels, gas stations and the province’s tax coffers.
