PRAGUE: AT&T plans to cut its workforce in Slovakia as the COVID-19 pandemic hits customer demand, the company said on Monday, with unions saying that 10% of jobs may be affected.

AT&T Global Network Services Slovakia has operated in the central European country for more than a decade, providing customer support, network engineering and other services.

The US company employs around 2,800 people in the country of 5.5 million, where unemployment has risen to 7.4%, from 5.2%, since the global coronavirus pandemic hit in March.

AT&T said in a statement it was working to "manage the impact on our people" from the cuts, which were part of previously announced initiatives and not only due to the crisis.

"These actions align with our focus on growth areas along with lower customer demand for some legacy products and the economic impact and changed customer behaviours resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic," a spokesman said in an email.

Martin Horkavy, the chairman of trade union uniJA, which represents AT&T workers, told Reuters that around 300 jobs could be affected, based on discussions with employees.

AT&T did not confirm the number of layoffs.