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"The big difference is that the Europeans enjoy a minimum wage of about $19 an hour and a government-mandated five weeks of paid vacation. Full-time employees i

"The big difference is that the Europeans enjoy a minimum wage of about $19 an hour and a government-mandated five weeks of paid vacation. Full-time employees in Danville start at $8 an hour with 12 vacation days — eight of them on dates determined by the company." "It's ironic that Ikea looks on the U.S. and Danville the way that most people in the U.S. look at Mexico,"

hollerith 15y ago
Except that according to IMF 2010 figures, the average American makes about 124% as much as the average Swede: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_%28PPP%29_per_capita http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_%28PPP...
- 0x12 15y ago
  That's why you should not be using averages for comparisons like this. The low end in Sweden is based on the local minimum wage and the vacation days are mandated by law. In the US IKEA uses the room afforded by the law there to pay their workers what they can get away with. Clearly these are not 'average' Americans or Swedes we're talking about, we are looking at the low end of the curve. Cost of living for those American workers is likely not all that much different from their Swedish counterparts.
  - thirdusername 15y ago
    There is no legally mandated minimum wage in Sweden (often to the surprise of my fellow countrymen), there is however typically collective agreements negotiated by the unions that about 80% of working Swedes belong too.
- asolove 15y ago
  Presumably the median figures are different, and the standard deviation much different. Those numbers would be more telling when it comes to the pay of low-skilled industrial workers.
- untog 15y ago
  Looking at things that way is half the problem though. What about vacation days, healthcare provision etc.? They all have a big impact on quality of life.
  - hollerith 15y ago
    A country's GDP includes its spending on health care, but of course does account for vacation days (or for how efficiently it spend on health care).
- RyanMcGreal 15y ago
  And if Bill Gates moved into your town, the average income there would skyrocket.
  - william42 15y ago
    Bill Gates gets mostly capital gains.
rickmb 15y ago
Just wait until European manufacturers discover the endless possibilities of the US prison system...
hugh3 15y ago
"It's ironic that Ikea looks on the U.S. and Danville the way that most people in the U.S. look at Mexico," Not really. With Ikea furniture being so cheap, so heavy, and so apparently labor non-intensive (only three hundred employees at the factory?) the main advantage to building furniture in the US rather than Sweden is saving on the cost of shipping US-bound furniture across the Atlantic rather than saving a few bucks an hour on wages.

hollerith 15y ago

Except that according to IMF 2010 figures, the average American makes about 124% as much as the average Swede: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_%28PPP%29_per_capita http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_%28PPP...

0x12 15y ago
That's why you should not be using averages for comparisons like this. The low end in Sweden is based on the local minimum wage and the vacation days are mandated by law. In the US IKEA uses the room afforded by the law there to pay their workers what they can get away with. Clearly these are not 'average' Americans or Swedes we're talking about, we are looking at the low end of the curve. Cost of living for those American workers is likely not all that much different from their Swedish counterparts.
- thirdusername 15y ago
  There is no legally mandated minimum wage in Sweden (often to the surprise of my fellow countrymen), there is however typically collective agreements negotiated by the unions that about 80% of working Swedes belong too.
asolove 15y ago
Presumably the median figures are different, and the standard deviation much different. Those numbers would be more telling when it comes to the pay of low-skilled industrial workers.
untog 15y ago
Looking at things that way is half the problem though. What about vacation days, healthcare provision etc.? They all have a big impact on quality of life.
- hollerith 15y ago
  A country's GDP includes its spending on health care, but of course does account for vacation days (or for how efficiently it spend on health care).
RyanMcGreal 15y ago
And if Bill Gates moved into your town, the average income there would skyrocket.
- william42 15y ago
  Bill Gates gets mostly capital gains.

rickmb 15y ago

Just wait until European manufacturers discover the endless possibilities of the US prison system...

hugh3 15y ago

"It's ironic that Ikea looks on the U.S. and Danville the way that most people in the U.S. look at Mexico," Not really. With Ikea furniture being so cheap, so heavy, and so apparently labor non-intensive (only three hundred employees at the factory?) the main advantage to building furniture in the US rather than Sweden is saving on the cost of shipping US-bound furniture across the Atlantic rather than saving a few bucks an hour on wages.