Staff who were laid off at an Auckland nonprofit organisation providing work for those with intellectual and physical challenges are back from redundancy following a spike in orders in recent weeks.
Altus Enterprises were forced to let go 137 workers four weeks ago amid the Covid-19 pandemic. They had been looking to expand their numbers to more than 200 staff before the lockdown.
"Things have skyrocketed, it's another level. Not just through the sky, but in the galaxy - almost close to the moon," one worker told Seven Sharp.
It comes after thousands of people rushed to order from Altus’ stand-alone brand of eco cleaning products, Will&Able.
Altus Enterprises has been happily processing a whopping $140,000 worth of orders.
The line, which includes dishwashing liquid, toilet cleaner, laundry liquid, and hand soap, are environmentally-friendly. The bottles are made from 100 per cent recycled New Zealand milk bottles.
They have since received 14,000 orders, equating to around 200 tonnes of cleaning products.
"We are absolutely sprinting now, let me tell you,” Altus Enterprises' Martin Wylie said.
More and more workers have since reappeared from redundancy.
It follows an increase in other customer assignments, including helping replace the headset refurbishing for Air New Zealand.
While the workers are enjoying a much-needed long weekend, their supervisors are still on the grind as they work through Will&Able’s backlog.
"It's management plus family coming in to continue on with those orders," Altus Enterprises' Connie Smith said.
"If my cat could pack, she'd be in here with us as well."
To buy the Will&Able cleaning products, click here.
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