Taiwan’s Pou Chen Corp, the world’s largest manufacturer of branded sports footwear, plans to cut around 6,000 jobs at its Ho Chi Minh City factory in Vietnam in several phases this year due to weak demand, reports the Straits Times, citing two local officials familiar with the company’s plans. The firm’s PouYuen Vietnam factory will cut 3,000 jobs this month and will not extend the labour contracts for 3,000 other workers later this year, the officials said, who declined to be identified because they were not authorised to speak to media.

The PouYuen Vietnam factory, which supplies goods to global companies such as Nike and Adidas, is one of the largest employers in Ho Chi Minh City, with 50,500 workers. “The company will prudently respond to the dynamic changes in the business environment,” Pou Chen said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.