AGCO’s critical upgrades to its Hesston facility went live on Jan. 1, 2024, and the company brought back the first group of employees returning from furlough in the first week of January. An additional wave of employees returned the following week, and the balance of employees will return in waves over the course of the first quarter as production ramps up with the new systems.

The company said implementation of the upgrades required all production areas to be shut down and that employee furloughs that occurred during this time were not demand-related. During this time, AGCO worked to provide impacted eligible employees with supplemental pay and retention bonuses.

In October 2023, AGCO temporarily furloughed up to 900 employees to "upgrade critical systems" at the company's Hesston, Kan., plant, according to a report from KSNW.

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