There is a lack of orders. And Pou Chen fires 1,221 workers at its factory in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. It is the third wave in 2023 of collective redundancies at the world’s largest manufacturer of sports footwear. Since the beginning of the year, Pou Chen has reduced the number of employees by about 8,000 people. The number of employees is now around 40,000, almost half of the peak recorded a few years ago.
Pou Chen lays off 1,221 workers
Third staff cut in Vietnam for Pou Chen Corp, which has its headquarters in Taiwan. This company has informed the authorities in the Vietnamese capital that it will lay off 1,221 people with permanent contracts. The decision is a consequence of the fact that, according to the company itself, demand “has not recovered and few partners have placed new orders”, as Reuters reports.
The Taiwanese company supplies companies such as Nike and Adidas, and is one of the largest employers in the capital of Vietnam. But due to declining orders, it has been forced to lay off employees. Since 1996, when the factory opened in Ho Chi Minh City, VnExpress notes, this is the fourth massive reduction in personnel. In June 2020, the company laid off more than 2,800 employees. Since the beginning of 2023, it has made three cuts, totalling about 8,000 people. And today, between redundancies and non-renewal of expired employment contracts, the workforce is about 40,000, almost half of its peak.
Investment in India
Globally, Pou Chen employs 280,888 people. That is 56,000 fewer than a year ago. This is the lowest number in at least a decade. 46% of its production comes from Indonesia and 38% from Vietnam. But it should be pointed out that, while Pou Chan makes redundancies in Vietnam, it plans to recruit in India. High Glory Footwear India, a subsidiary of Pou Chen itself, has planned to allocate some USD 280 million to open a factory in the state of Tamil Nadu. The production site will employ 20,000 people over the next 12 years.
Read also:
