At a recent meeting with local authorities, representatives from Pou Yuen said they had adjusted production plans since late last year and laid off a large number of workers due to a fall in new orders, leading to several production lines being dissolved.

"We're planning to lay off another 5.744 workers or 10 percent of our total 50,500 workforce in June and July this year," the company told local authorities.

This will be Pou Yuen largest wave of redundancies. The company have been a supplier of major brands like Adidas, Nike and Reebok, since their operation in HCM City in 1996.

The company fired more than 2,800 workers in June 2020 and another 2,300 workers were laid off in February this year also due to a lack of orders.

According to the deputy director of the HCM City Department of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs, Nguyen Van Lam, many local firms have faced a sharp fall in the number of orders due to the global economic downturn since last year.

"Over 110,000 workers in the city were laid off, or had their working hours reduced, due to a drop in orders late last year," the official said.

The city's trade unions forecast the prospect to be even dimmer this year as orders in certain sectors will drop by 40 percent in volume and 20 percent in value.

Source: Dtinews