* Redundancies likely to affect 800 office-based roles at

group level

* Ingka CEO emphasises need for speed, less complexity

* IKEA Sweden unit also to cut roles, following IKEA

Norway reorganisation

* IKEA trials new stores with faster-to-open format

(Adds background in paragraphs 2 and 8, details on

country-specific layoffs in 11)

By Greta Rosen Fondahn

STOCKHOLM, March 19 (Reuters) - The owner of most IKEA

outlets worldwide said on Thursday it would cut some of its

office-based workforce, with 800 roles likely affected, in an

effort to streamline the organisation.

Ingka CEO Juvencio Maeztu, who took the helm in November,

said a slimmer organisation at the top would enable faster

decision-making, with more "responsibility to the front line".

It would also lower Ingka's costs, helping the retailer to

grow and to bring prices down for customers, he said.

IKEA sales have fallen for the past two years, which the

retailer has attributed to its focus on cutting prices to try to

increase market share and lift sales volume.

"The world we live in, both in the world and in the retail

industry, requires more speed and more agility than ever before.

So we need to reduce the complexity," Maeztu said.

"We are giving more focus to the front line. And by doing

that, you can really take the right decisions and faster

decisions."

Ingka said the cuts would impact office-based jobs across

the group, mainly in Sweden and at the headquarters in the

Netherlands, but did not specify what exact roles would be

removed.

IKEA joins other retailers in cutting jobs this year as weak

economic growth dents consumer spending. Nike ( NKE ) cut 775 jobs in

the U.S. while Home Depot ( HD ) in January announced 800 job cuts.

NEED TO BE AGILE

Ingka employs around 166,000 people across the world. It is

split into three business areas, IKEA Retail, shopping malls

business Ingka Centres, and investment arm Ingka Investments.

Asked about current geopolitical turmoil and the rise in oil

prices, Maeztu said they did not affect Ingka in the short term,

but they were a "reminder" of why IKEA needs to be "agile to

overcome disruption".

IKEA Sweden - Ingka's retail arm in Sweden - separately said

on Wednesday it was also cutting jobs, which could impact 145

additional roles. In February, IKEA Norway said it would cut

50-60 roles in its head office.

IKEA, best known for blue out-of-town warehouse stores, is

shifting focus to more city and suburban stores and Ingka said

it plans 20 such openings by September.