Bisola David
One of Vietnam’s top shoe manufacturers, for well-known brands like Nike and Adidas will lay off thousands of workers at the end of the month as a result of a drop in orders according to local authorities.
According to Arise News, due to “extremely limited production orders in 2023,” PouYuen Vietnam, a subsidiary of Taiwan’s Pou Chen Group, will terminate the contracts of 3,000 plant workers and lay off another 3,000, according to a Ho Chi Minh City labor department document acquired by AFP on Monday.
With the purchasing power of customers around the world falling, Vietnam, one of the biggest exporters of apparel, footwear, and furniture, has been severely impacted by the cost-of-living issue in important markets in Europe and the United States.
With almost 50,000 people, PouYuen is the commercial capital of Ho Chi Minh City’s major employer.
The memo stated, “The corporation has informed the workers’ union that in February it wants to remove 3,000 employees… and it will anticipate making an announcement to those employees on February 25.”
According to the agreement, factory workers will continue to be compensated until they start receiving unemployment benefits.
Towards the conclusion of last year, PouYuen placed 20,000 of its employees on rotating paid leave.
According to the labour ministry, more than 630,000 workers in Vietnam lost their employment or had their hours reduced in 2022.
Vietnam General Confederation of Workers have also stated that orders from the United States and Europe were down 30 to 40% and 60%, respectively, in the final quarter of 2022 compared to the prior year.
