Something for the weekend: Swedish retailer Ikea has opened applications to become a paid employee at a virtual store on Roblox, an online gaming and virtual universe platform.
The opportunity is part of a campaign, titled ‘Careers Done Different’, to attract a new generation of employees to the organisation by showing them what a career at Ikea is like.
The virtual store, which is due to open on 24 June, has been designed to introduce Roblox users to the roles and career progression routes available through a series of games inspired by real-life jobs. The immersive experience enables users to switch between departments while their avatars gain experience in order to reflect Ikea’s flexible career progression.
Candidates need to be aged 18 and above and live in the UK or Ireland. The recruitment process includes a questionnaire and will require an up-to-date CV in both written or video formats. Some applicants will be invited to a digital interview and those who are successful will be paid £13.15 per hour, which is Ikea’s hourly pay rate for a London employee and the Living Wage Foundation’s living wage rate for the capital.
Kelly O’Callaghan, recruitment and sourcing manager at Ikea UK and Ireland, said: “At Ikea, co-workers can grow their careers in any direction they want, by reskilling and moving into a new department, or by taking on more responsibilities and growing in leadership roles. The co-worker game aims to help more people experience what a career at Ikea could be like.”
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Kemi Anthony, marketing communications manager at Ikea UK and Ireland, added: “When we say careers done different, we do mean it. To bring career progression at Ikea to life, it made sense to demonstrate the co-worker journey in a less traditional way, by ‘recruiting’ people to try it out for themselves at Ikea on Roblox.”
This certainly sounds like an innovative way of attracting potential new employees!