Supporting suppliers in responsible recruitment of migrant workers
In the last couple of years, we have done several projects with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to map labour supply chains leading to IKEA suppliers in South East Asia. This included assessments at the suppliers and at recruitment agencies in both the countries of origin of migrant workers and countries of destination.
It provided a clearer picture of migrant workers’ journeys from their homes to IKEA suppliers in selected corridors, and highlighted the risks associated with cross-border recruitment. In many countries, legislation and established practice are based on workers paying recruitment fees and costs.
Workers can accumulate high levels of debt before they even start working at their employer in the country of destination. Based on learnings from this project, the IKEA Guidelines on Responsible Recruitment have been developed. They aim to build the understanding and ability of suppliers to responsibly manage the recruitment of migrant workers. The focus is on cross-border migration through recruitment agencies or intermediaries, but the general principles apply to all types of recruitment of all workers.