General Motors is cutting around 350 jobs in the heart of Southeast Asia. The company said it was necessary to right-size its operations, but added that there is no change to our ongoing business in Thailand.

However, according to reports, these job cuts are part of efforts to further shrink the manufacturing structure and curb labor costs.

The US-based car company has about 1,900 employees in Thailand, spread across two plants in Rayong, a province on Thailand’s east coast. The factories build vehicles for the domestic market and export under the Chevrolet and Holden nameplates. Thailand’s domestic car sales have been slipping this year following stricter financing deals.

Thailand is major manufacturing hub for many of the world’s top car makers including Toyota, Honda and Harley-Davidson.

The auto industry accounts for about 10 percent of the Thai economy and has been one of a few growth drivers at a time of falling exports.

These layoffs come after the automaker announced it would close five of its North American plants late last year in a bid to adjust its production output to fall in line with demand.

The automaker has also implemented temporary layoffs at its CAMI plant in Ingersoll, Ontario and recently cut a shift at its San Luis Potosi plant in Mexico – all part of its ongoing “rightsizing” strategy.