Given that one of the big selling points of the new Ikea in residents was the jobs it would make available for local residents, one of the huge questions is how many residents the store has hired. Jotham Sederstrom takes a stab at the subject in today’s Daily News. We say “stab” because Ikea’s policy is to not give any details about hiring. Mr. Sederstrom finds that the retailer’s local hiring so far seems to be good, although there is apparently a wide range of guestimates from local organization on which this conclusion rests. The number could be anywhere from 40-200 from less than 10 percent to 40 percent of the workforce). There are 500 positions at the store. Here’s a bit of what he writes:

With 300 people already hired from across the city, local leaders estimated as many as 60% of new hires hail from Red Hook – a number an Ikea spokesman refused to confirm or deny.

“I would say about 200 people, and I’m confident with my numbers,” said Red Hook Rise founder Ray Hall, an Ikea supporter. “Put it this way, there’s more than 30 people in my mother’s [Red Hook housing project] building [who were hired] alone.”…In interviews with employees and leaders, estimates varied widely, with some workers saying as few as 40 people were hired from Red Hook. Others like Hall and Red Hook East tenant association leader Dorothy Shields – a backer of the project – insisted the number was closer to 200.

Given the importance of the hiring figures, it would be valuable to have a clear picture that neither understates nor overstates their local hiring. The company is currently running press tours of the site in advance of the opening.