IKEA Is Making 3D Printed Vegan Meatballs To Attract Sustainable Tech Hires

Swedish furniture giant IKEA is hiring. And it’s employing a unique recruitment approach. The chain is offering qualified applicants an opportunity to try 3D-printed vegan versions of its iconic Swedish meatballs.

The race is on to make the world’s largest furniture and home furnishings chain as sustainable as possible. IKEA has not taken this task lightly; it’s led the way on sustainability initiatives, including committing to turn its cafés 50 per cent plant-based in the coming years.

It already offers vegan versions of its iconic meatballs, as well as vegan hot dogs and even dairy-free soft-serve. And now, as a hook to potential hires, it’s offering a taste of the vegan meatballs made with 3D printing technology.

The hook is aimed at showcasing the brand’s commitment to technology innovations—and thus the best hires for the positions. It’s planning to serve vegan meatballs in its restaurants.

3D Printed Meatballs and a Job Interview

“IKEA is at the start of a journey to embrace data and technology to become more affordable, accessible and sustainable in an omnichannel environment. Naturally, people with imagination will play a big role in that quest. So here we’re looking for people who want to create a better everyday life with us. This campaign is a great way to start the conversation,” Inter IKEA Group CIO Pascal Pauwels said in a statement.

In a short film accompanying the launch, IKEA showcases the 3D printer. “Everything big starts out so small,” the voiceover says. “And it can change so much: how we work, the way we sleep, and how we relax, love, and eat. Because we want to improve everything in our homes, making it possible to live a sustainable life with a small price tag. To do that, we’re looking for people with imagination. Are you one of them?”

The video ends with a woman eating a vegan meatball and the text that says “Let’s meet over some 3D printed meatballs and a job interview.”

According to IKEA, it’s looking to fill 150 tech and innovation jobs in 2022; it says it’s seeking talent with imagination. The applicants will be allowed to “Taste the Future” as the campaign is called.

The hiring campaign comes a week after the furniture giant, which operates more than 450 stores globally, said it was on track to become climate-positive by 2030.

Ikea Sustainability Targets

In its first-ever Climate Report, which came alongside its FY21 Sustainability Report, IKEA said it decreased its total climate footprint by 1.6 million tons of CO2—a reduction of 5.8 per cent over its 2016 baseline.

“With two-thirds of the time left to 2030, we are on track and have reached one-third of our emission reduction through many short- and medium-term movements. We also have plans in place to address our longer-term movements and remaining complex challenges, such as the climate footprint of the materials used in the IKEA range”, Lena Pripp-Kovac, Chief Sustainability Officer, Inter IKEA Group, said in a statement accompanying the reports.

The company says its overall climate commitment is to become climate positive by the 2030 target and it aims to do that largely by reducing emissions throughout its value chain. Ikea says it will achieve the goal without offsets. It’s aiming to reduce emissions by 15 per cent over the 2016 baseline number.

“Climate change, biodiversity loss, and increasing inequalities make us even more determined to speed up our work,” Pripp-Kovac said. “And while climate action does present many great opportunities, we also need to secure a just transition with a specific focus on respecting human rights across the value chain.”

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