Swedish furniture giant IKEA is hiring, but not for the job you think. The multinational retail behemoth is taking things into the metaverse this June with ‘The Co-Worker Game’ on virtual game platform Roblox—and it’s going to take a number of real-life co-workers to bring it to life.
The game allows users to lose themselves, quite literally, in IKEA’s virtual universe, where they will be assisted by 10 paid ‘co-workers’, just like in an IKEA store. Co-workers help you find stuff and build stuff—and can even get promoted or move departments, just like in the real world.
The aim is to give players (or should we say employees?) a workplace experience similar to what they might find in an actual store. The best part? You can even pig out on an endless (virtual) supply of Swedish meatballs and chocolate cake at IKEA’s Swedish Food Market and Bistro. Unlike any job application I’ve had the (dis)pleasure of filling, this one includes entertaining questions like “If you were a pixelated IKEA furniture, which one would you be and why?” and “What would you do if we ran out of pixelated hot dogs in our bistro?”.
Each co-worker will be paid an hourly rate of £13.15 (around ₹1,395), the standard for IKEA workers in London. Applications for the roles are being accepted till Sunday, June 16, and are open to residents of the UK and Ireland who are over 18. The furniture brand isn't the first company to play around with Roblox—both Ralph Lauren and Gucci have launched limited-edition games (The Ralph Lauren Winter Escape and Gucci Garden, respectively) in the past. Nikeland is a permanent space for empowering fans to create and participate in mini-games and interact with the community, and even Forever 21 has its own Shop City. While we’re not holding our breath on this being the future of work, it is interesting to see companies find innovative ways to invite new audiences into the folds of their brand.
