HANOI (Reuters) -Taiwan’s Pou Chen Corp, the world’s largest maker of branded sports activities footwear, plans to chop round 6,000 jobs at its Ho Chi Minh Metropolis plant in Vietnam resulting from weak demand, two native officers acquainted with the corporate’s plans stated on Tuesday.

The agency’s Pouyuen Vietnam manufacturing facility will reduce 3,000 jobs this month and never prolong labour contracts for one more 3,000 staff later this 12 months, the officers stated, declining to be recognized as a result of they weren’t authorised to talk to media.

The Pouyen Vietnam manufacturing facility provides world firms corresponding to Nike Inc (NYSE:). and Adidas AG (ETR:) and is one the most important employers in Ho Chi Minh Metropolis, with 50,500 staff.

Pou Chen stated the Vietnam manufacturing facility deliberate to chop not more than 3,000 workers within the newest spherical of layoffs amid uncertainty over the macroeconomic outlook, and the influence on operations can be restricted.

“The corporate will prudently reply to the dynamic modifications within the enterprise setting,” Pou Chen stated in a submitting to the Taiwan bourse.

Pou Chen shares fell 1.2% in early afternoon commerce in Taiwan in a broader market that was down simply 0.1%.

Phone calls to a manufacturing facility labour union official weren’t answered.

The plan to chop jobs marks a reversal for the corporate that in 2021 confronted a labour scarcity and manufacturing disruption in Vietnam as a result of coronavirus pandemic.

The Southeast Asian nation is a world hub for manufacturing, and its economic system in 2022 grew on the quickest tempo in a long time, however economists have warned of headwinds, with weakening world demand beginning to influence commerce shipments.

Vietnam’s exports in January fell 26% from a 12 months earlier, whereas imports had been down 24%. A decline in imports might point out a future contraction in industrial manufacturing as companies reduce purchases of supplies and tools for manufacturing.