World's top shoemaker Pou Chen faces Vietnam labour shortage
10/11/2021 05:02
HANOI, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Taiwan's Pou Chen Corp 9904.TW ,
the world's largest manufacturer of branded sports footwear, is
facing a labour shortage and manufacturing disruption in
Vietnam, threatening its plan to return to full operation this
month.
Production at its Pouyuen Vietnam factories in Ho Chi Minh
City, Long An and Dong Nai, hotspots of the country's
coronavirus crisis, has been scaled down since July. Its clients
include Nike Inc. NKE.N and Adidas AG ADSGn.DE ,
"About 6% of the total employees have quit," Lu Chi Yuan,
director of Pouyuen Vietnam said in a statement, which followed
a meeting between the company and Ho Chi Minh City authorities.
"We are facing labour shortages, delays in large orders, and
production and exports activities disruption," Lu said.
Vietnam until the middle of this year had one of the world's
best coronavirus containment records, with limited disruption to
its crucial manufacturing sector.
However, that changed after May, when an outbreak in
economic hub Ho Chi Minh City intensified and spread to
surrounding manufacturing provinces.
The mass exodus https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-vietnam-labour-idCNL4N2QX12O
of tens of thousands of workers from industrial hubs in October
when COVID-19 curbs were lifted has complicated Vietnam's
efforts to get its key manufacturing sector back on track.
Lu asked city authorities for help with announcing and
posting jobs, to help it ramp up staffing, the statement added.
Vietnam has recorded nearly 985,000 infections in total and
22,700 deaths, with about 41% of the country's population
vaccinated.
(Editing by Martin Petty)