Bobcat Company

More than 2,000 workers will be out of a job in the middle of winter as the flailing economy forced Bobcat Co. officials to shutdown operations in two plants for six weeks. Employees in Bobcat's Gwinner and Bismarck plants were told of the temporary layoff, which will start soon, and includes a one-week paid holiday vacation. Bobcat, purchased by South Korean Doosan Infracore International in 2007, has three factories in France, the Czech Republic and China that will not be shut down. Bobcat Co., based in Fargo, typically has a temporary shutdown during slower winter months, which have lasted up to three weeks in the past and often do not affect the entire workforce in the plants.