Cirrus Design rehires 50 employees
Airplane manufacturer Cirrus Design is rehiring about 50 employees who were laid off in January.
The Duluth-based company says it's bringing back those employees because of strong demand for its aircraft, both domestically and overseas.
Todd Simmons, vice president of marketing, says the workers are mostly non-management.
"These folks are all coming back from direct labor, and it's very pleasing to all of us here to be able to call these folks back," said Simmons. "It's some of their personal sacrifice -- and a number of folks' personal sacrifices -- that has allowed us to get here. So this becomes that first step in the right direction that we've been waiting for."
Simmons says production will increase from six airplanes per week to eight.
Total employment at Cirrus will be just over 800 between its operations in Duluth and Grand Forks, N.D.
The company had about 500 workers on furlough early this year, and most of them are now back at work. Cirrus also eliminated more than 200 jobs in a reorganization last fall.
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