The worldwide financial slowdown hit North Dakota late last year - when hundreds of workers at Bobcat plants in two cities in the state were laid off.

But now， those employees are clocking in again.

Workers at Bobcat Company plants in Bismarck and Gwinner are back at work today for the first time since mid-December.

The workers have been laid off for about eight weeks because of slow sales.

The West Fargo-based construction equipment manufacturer said the shutdown was due to the poor economy.

Arnold Zins says he probably knows 90 percent of the people who work there and this winter has been a harsh reminder for all of them of the ups and downs of our economy.

(Arnold Zins/Bobcat Employee) "I think from our perspective we’re seeing the full brunt of being laid off and I know there’s other cities in the United States have had worse layoffs and things like that， but it’s coming here just like everywhere else in the country."

Zins， who has been working this whole time， says there is a new model of excavator they’re currently working on at Bobcat... Something he hopes will generate new interest in their products.

The Gwinner and Bismarck plants have around two thousand employees combined.