The director of the District Labor Office in Szczytno, Beata Januszczyk, announced on Thursday that the office received information from Ikea about the intention of group layoffs 10 days before their commencement, i.e. on April 10, 2026. The layoffs are expected to affect 240 employees.
Until the text was published, the IKEA factory did not respond to questions asked by the Polish Press Agency regarding the size of the layoffs and the reasons.
Layoffs in the Polish IKEA factory.
— Between April 20 and 30, employees received one month and three months' notice depending on their length of service. The layoffs will cover both production and administration employees. The employer explains it by a decline in orders for products resulting from the economic situation and rising costs, as well as the deterioration of the company's financial situation, said director Januszczyk in an interview with PAP.
- Ikea's first such decision in 40 years. The big store is disappearing
As she explained, at the District Labor Office in Szczytno On the initiative of the Office, meetings with dismissed IKEA employees begin on Thursday. She emphasized that the aim of the Labor Office is to help dismissed employees find new employment.
— Office employees will present the forms of assistance available in the local Office, including: co-financing labor costs as part of intervention works, equipping new jobs and training providing professional qualifications sought on the market, and granting funds for starting one's own business, she noted.
Consultations are starting
She added that career advisors will present employment opportunities, analyzing people's qualifications and competences. Employees of the records and benefits department will present the rules of registration and the catalog of necessary documents, as well as discuss the rules for granting unemployment benefits and activation allowances. Employers interested in employing dismissed workers will also be present at the meeting. ZUS employees are to inform about obtaining pre-retirement benefits.
- They laid off 30,000. people and it is not enough. More layoffs this week
As she emphasized, v The PUP database in Szczytno currently has 61 job offers in the district. There are registered in Szczytno County over 2.3 thousand people (which is an increase of about 17% compared to last year), which translates into the unemployment rate in the district – 11.3 percent
There were no signals
The mayor of Szczytno, Stefan Ochman, said in an interview with PAP that the layoffs at IKEA are a surprise because there were no previous signals from this employer. — The situation is worrying. Every dismissal is an alert. The local government exists to create favorable conditions for business development, said the mayor. He added that there are other furniture and wood production plants in Szczytno and the surrounding area.
- Companies are slowing down more quietly than a year ago, but this is not the end of the changes
According to IKEA, the factory in Wielbark produces furniture from solid pine wood. There is a sawmill there that processes wood from the forests of north-eastern Poland. The company also includes a solid wood glued board factory and a furniture factory, as well as a pellet plant in the same location.
