Summit Wool Spinners has reinstated normal 12-hour shifts for its 160 employees as forward orders continue to improve from Australia and New Zealand.
The worldwide recession caused a major downturn in orders for the Oamaru company last year, leading to a reduction in staff and shifts.
In April, the company adopted the Government's nine-day fortnight scheme, which saved 57 jobs.
A further 60 staff took voluntary redundancy.
In June, plant workers received a fully paid eight-day break to create a backlog of work.
Last month, shifts were increased from nine to 10 hours for the four shifts when orders started to improve.
Summit's director Ricky Hammond-Tooke said yesterday the return to full hours effectively ended the company's reliance on the government-subsidised nine-day fortnight scheme.
"The scheme was very helpful because it enabled us to come to an agreement with our staff which was acceptable to all parties and helped us through a very tough time," he said.
The restoration of full hours was "great news for both workers and Oamaru".
"We are Oamaru's second-largest employer. What goes into our workers' pockets will be spread around retailers and services in Oamaru, and that will be good for the town," he said.
Mr Hammond-Tooke paid tribute to Summit's owner, the Japanese multinational Sumitomo Corporation, for standing behind Summit as it worked through the recession.
He also acknowledged the support of the two site unions and staff who had continued to support Summit in difficult circumstances.
"We are by no means out of the woods, but there appears to be some kind of recovery in Australia and we are hopeful of it continuing," Mr Hammond-Tooke said.
Staff were told yesterday that although this was positive news, they needed to be cautious as times were still uncertain.
"We do expect to remain on 12 hours if nothing inhibits us in the future," he said.
Shifts at the mill would return to 12 hours on Monday.
