There are the rare wicked people whose punishment includes the very fact that their "heart is hardened" and it's more difficult for them to repent (see Rambam, Laws of Teshuvah 6:3). So the verse may be referring to such people. This is possibly implied by Rashi ad loc, who says
וגם רשע. עשה להניחו ליום רעה, וכל זה לקילוסו:
Also the wicked - he made in order to leave him for "an evil day"; this is all in praise of G-d.
With that said, a number of the commentaries say that it's not talking about the "making" of the wicked person himself, but of some consequence of his (freely chosen) actions:
Ralbag: it refers to the punishment of the wicked (i.e., not that G-d made him wicked to begin with, but that once he is, then G-d's punishment of him serves a useful purpose, in warning others against such behavior).
Metzudas David: it refers to the successes of the wicked (i.e., once he's decided to be wicked, G-d may choose to grant him power, to then serve as an instrument of punishment of others - an example being "Assyria, the rod of My anger" (Isaiah 10:5)). The Chinuch (mitzvah 524), in a similar vein, uses this verse as an example of how G-d may utilize someone's free choice (false witnesses, in that case) to get someone else their condign punishment.
Malbim: it refers to both his success and his punishment. Both demonstrate G-d's greatness, in that the wicked person rises high and then falls (like Haman).
It's also worth noting a homiletical explanation by R. Shneur Zalman of Liadi (Tanya, part 1, ch. 27): it refers to a person who has tendencies towards wickedness (though he has free choice whether to act on them), and who was created that way in order to make his inborn "evil" into a bright "day."