IKEA employee smiles and stands in the IKEA kitchen as she prepares food for customers inside a department store.

Better lives 

People are at the heart of everything we do. We want to take a leading role in creating a fairer society and improve the lives of the many people that interact with our company. From inclusive workplaces to supporting those in need - learn more about how we work to create better lives.

Download report chapter: Better lives

A graphic symbol symbolizing a heart for the Better lives section.

Creating better lives

This year, co-worker engagement increased and we made progress towards removing pay gaps. We also took steps to support those affected by the war in Ukraine. We take pride in our progress, but to increase transparency, we highlight our challenges as well.

Three employees in the IKEA kitchen where one laughs and hands out food to customers in the restaurant.

What we are proud of

Starting with our co-workers and supply chain, and extending to our customers, neighbourhoods, communities and society at large, we are determined to be a force for good. Here are some examples of how we worked towards that goal and created better lives during financial year 2022.

Our co-worker survey showed that 80.0% of co-workers believe we live our values, which contributed to an increased engagement score of 81.0%.
We achieved a 50/50 gender balance in our management positions (all leaders).  
Our latest gender equal pay assessments showed that we are making progress at removing pay gaps that cannot be explained by performance, competence or a country’s legal requirements (FY22: 4,84%).
We donated EUR 15.2 million in cash and in-kind donations to support those affected by the war in Ukraine.  We reached almost 417,500 people through our social impact programmes in FY22.

Two employees are talking to each other and laughing inside a department store.

Challenges we are addressing

Our Lost Time Accident Frequency Rate (LTAFR) increased to 17.16 during FY22. We believe this is due to improvements in our incident reporting processes as well as changes to business processes and procedures in our customer fulfilment centres as a result of the pandemic and an increase in online sales.

We did not meet our neighbourhood target to support at least 2,500 refugees by the end of FY22, but we expect to do so during FY23.

We were not able to partner with as many social enterprises as anticipated due to resourcing challenges following the pandemic and associated supply chain disruption and the discontinuation of some services.

How can we do better?

Do you have any feedback on how we can address these challenges?

Progress against targets 

Our vision is to create a better everyday life for the many people. We are setting targets and evaluating our performance for how we can become better in four ways: better homes, better lives, better planet and better company. Below you will find our targets and performance for our work to create better lives. 

Culture and values

Maintain at least an 80% engagement score in our co-worker survey.

Achieved

Performance against target

Our engagement score was 81% (FY21: 79.8%; FY20 80,1%), an increase on last year.

Picture of many IKEA colleagues outside an IKEA department store, laughing and smiling at the camera wearing IKEA work clothes.

Values index - % of co-workers who feel engaged

Ishare results

(our co-worker survey)

Last updated 2023-02-15

At least 80% of co-workers believe we live our values, based on our co-worker survey.

Achieved

Performance against target

Our survey shows that 80% of co-workers believe we live our values (FY21: 79.8%; FY20: 79.6%).

Values index - % of co-workers who believe we live our values

Ishare results

(our co-worker survey)

Learn more about our values

Last updated 2023-02-15

Fair, equal and inclusive

Achieve gender balance across our business in 2022.

On track

Performance against target

At the end of FY22, we had achieved a 50/50 gender balance in our management positions (all leaders). 38.0% of our Group Management and 45.8% of country CEOs were women. We reached gender balance in our country management teams.

Women in leadership*

All leaders (Management)

(% of women)

*All leaders covers all management roles. Group Management is the strategic leadership team for Ingka Group.

Group Management

(% of women)

Last updated 2023-02-15

Equal pay for women and men performing work of equal value in all countries.

On track

Performance against target

Our latest annual equal pay assessment shows that 4.84% of co-workers belong to groups where pay gaps cannot be explained by performance, competence or a country’s legal requirements (5.04% in FY21).

Two colleagues, a girl and a guy stand with their backs to each other and smile at the camera in yellow and blue clothes inside an IKEA store.

Our journey to gender equal pay

We have been working on gender equal pay for many years, learning from our progress and setbacks to keep improving our approach.

2022: Carried out our fourth annual equal pay assessment.
2019: Rolled out our approach across Ingka, enabling us to speak “one language” on gender equal pay and track our progress.
2018: Launched the Ingka Gender Equal Pay approach with our 6-step process methodology, carried out our first gender equal pay annual assessment and signed the pledge of the Gender Equal International Coalition (EPIC).
2017: Set up a gender equal pay task force to establish a group-wide agenda on Gender Equal Pay.
2013-2014: We analyzed gender equal pay among two different groups of countries with a deep dive analysis in Germany, Japan, Russia the US and Sweden.
2010: Our compensation and benefits principles set out non-discrimination guidelines for pay.

Last updated 2023-02-15

Score 80% on our Inclusion Index, based on our co-worker survey.

Achieved

Performance against target

Our score in FY22 was 81.2% (FY21: 80.4%; FY20: 81.5%).

Two female colleagues laugh with room numbers while fixing an IKEA product inside a department store.

Last updated 2023-02-15

Increase ethnic, racial and national diversity at all levels so our workforce reflects the diversity of the communities in which we operate by 2024.

Not on track

Performance against target

We have started to put in place processes and programmes to drive and measure our progress against this target. For example, our Equal UP! programme aims to identify and address barriers to equal opportunities for people from underrepresented ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Our voluntary and anonymous D&I survey indicates that our workforce reflects society, but more work is needed to achieve diversity at leadership and management levels.

Image of many different people in portrait format and different sizes in one photo.

Last updated 2023-02-15

Lifelong learning

At least 80% of co-workers are empowered to develop their competencies.

Achieved

Performance against target

81.5% of co-workers in our survey reported feeling empowered to utilise their competencies (FY21: 80.7%).

Two IKEA colleagues are talking to each other and laughing with a chair in front of them that they are holding.

Last updated 2023-02-15

Upskilling and reskilling training provided to co-workers in our transformation initiatives starting with customer service, facilities and stores.

On track

Performance against target

We have delivered a range of targeted upskilling programmes for co-workers in these three transformation initiatives resulting in 2,790 co-workers being upskilled and reskilled.

IKEA employees talk to two customers inside an IKEA department store holding IKEA products.

Upskilling and reskilling our co-workers

2.8 million training hours were logged by co-workers (2.4 million in FY21).
2,790 colleagues have been reskilled in our customer service, facilities and, focusing on improving skills in home furnishing, automation, and customer experience.
74.3% of co-workers felt they had good opportunities to develop their competencies (72.8% in FY21).

Last updated 2023-02-15

Neighbourhoods and communities

Support at least 2,500 refugees by the end of 2022 through job training and language skills initiatives in Ingka Group Units across 30 countries.

Not achieved

Performance against target

We reached 1,765 refugees through skills for employment programmes by our target date, including 918 refugees in 22 countries in FY22. Unforeseen global events including the Covid-19 pandemic and war in Ukraine resulted in store closures which impacted our operations and ability to roll out and scale up the program in some countries.

Although we did not meet our target of 2,500 by the end of 2022 we expect to do so during FY23.

Picture of two IKEA colleagues from behind holding each other/hugging and laughing.

Last updated 2023-02-15

All Ingka Group retail countries will develop products or services from local social businesses by 2025.

Not on track

Performance against target

We partnered with 30 social entrepreneurs in 13 countries. The number of partnerships was lower than in FY21. This was due to resourcing challenges following the pandemic and associated supply chain disruption and the discontinuation of some services.

Woman sits and works with locally produced products.

Last updated 2023-02-15

Curious to know more?

Download the full report to learn all the details.

Download report

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Learn more about how we make life better 

Better homes

Our passion for a better life at home is what makes us IKEA. Learn how city stores and expanded services help make healthy and sustainable living available for more people.

Better planet

Ingka Group is committed to becoming a climate positive and circular business by 2030. Learn how we reduce our climate footprint and make it easier for our customers to act too. 

Better companies

We do business with a humanitarian outlook, honestly and with integrity. Read up on how we deliver on strategic ambitions and goals, financial results and governance.