LOCALS make up 60 per cent of the workforce at Swedish furnishing giant IKEA’s Bahrain store.
IKEA Bahrain said in a statement issued yesterday that it has created 320 jobs and has achieved 60 per cent Bahrainisation, contributing to the country’s unemployment reduction strategy.
The government requires a 30pc Bahrainisation rate for each company.
“We have already exceeded this figure with Bahrainis now making up 60pc of our co-workers,” said IKEA Bahrain store human resources manager Hanadi Alaali.
“The move comes as part of the company’s aim to contribute to the kingdom’s strategy to tackle unemployment and we also aim to achieve a gender balance within our team and have followed the company’s value-based recruitment policy.”
Ms Alaali said the company will also hire individuals with special needs and disabilities to provide them equal work opportunities.
“We base our recruitment process on IKEA values, abilities and capabilities that is based on providing equal opportunities to all, and have hired people with education qualifications from secondary school to master degree levels,” she added.
IKEA Bahrain is a few weeks away from opening its largest regional store, spread over 37,000sqm, in Salmabad.
No firm date has yet been fixed but the superchain is expected to open in the third quarter of this year, the GDN previously reported.
More than 7,500 products,including iconic brands like Billy bookcases, Poang chairs and Bang mugs, will be on the shelves of the 6,200sqm showroom.
The BD47 million complex will also incorporate a 6,000sqm market hall for accessories, 5,000sqm of self-service area and 4,000sqm of full-service in a warehouse-like space.
IKEA Bahrain, which is being opened in partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Al Sulaiman Group, will also be home to a 700-seat restaurant, the biggest in Bahrain, spread over 2,500sqm.
A bistro offering grab-and-go snacks and a Swedish food market selling lingonberry jam, coffee and chocolate will take up about 500sqm of the total area.
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