A Nightmare In Retail - Carts Co-Worker IKEA Employee Review

1.0
16 May 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I enjoyed the company of most of the people I worked with. A lot of foreigners and local celebrities shopped at the store. I was exposed to people I would not have met otherwise.

Cons

Management was incompetent at best. From the outside looking in, it felt as if the people in charge had no idea what they were doing. Since the store was extremely profitable, any management problems were swept under the rug. Internal problems be damned, IKEA's too popular to fail. Promotions were purely political. Unless you were apart of the "club", you weren't promoted. People that couldn't lead their way out of a paper bag were put in positions of leadership and power. There's a petty rivalry between those that worked on the second floor and those that worked on the first floor. The employees that worked inside had no respect for the employees that worked outside. There was no official training for my job. I learned how to do everything through trial and error. Very high volume of customers on weekends and holidays.

Explore other reviews about IKEA

5.0
14 Apr 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great managers and coworkers-felt like family.

Cons

Holidays were brutal but mainly because of the coworkers

4.0
1 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I have a very empathetic and flexible manager. Although I do meet the requirement to be in office three days a week many others do not and don’t seem to suffer for it. My work can be challenging at times, but due to the slow pace of most things here I rarely feel overwhelmed.

Cons

This is, without equivocation, the most sclerotic organization I have ever been a part of. The management structure and reporting lines are inscrutable and even after 3 years I barely understand how my team fits into the larger picture. My job is a data role, and although getting access to data has improved somewhat, it is still one of my biggest blockers.

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