08 December 2010

IKEA gives their employees a bike for Christmas

On Tuesday, at 9:30 AM, IKEA presented each of it's 12,400 employees in the United States with their Christmas gift - a bicycle.


The bikes, which according to Christopher Garcia, 28, regional public relations and marketing manager, would probably run in the range of $200 were given to the employees in appreciation for their hard work this year. The bikes were chosen to reflect the values that IKEA holds dear as a company.

For those employees that did not plan on using their new bike, they could return it to be donated to Toys for Tots.

From my personal view - having worked for companies who range from fairly generous to almost Scrooge-like (my current employeer) in their gift giving, IKEA's gift of the bike is a very nice gesture.

Are the bikes good? Well, no. Looking at the picture, they are on par with what you would find at your local Wal*Mart, but when you consider the logistics and cost of getting 12,400 bikes - it has been said that IKEA recieved a significant discount for purchasing the bikes in bulk - it is understandable that IKEA went with this type of bicycle.

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