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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。- B7 k2 q b) u/ I0 _7 w: [
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Finning Canada has laid off 160 salaried staff in Alberta and B.C. as sales of Caterpillar equipment slows in the economic downturn.
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Every office and every staff level, from support staff to management, in both provinces were affected, human resources vice-president Miles Hunt said Thursday.
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Twenty-nine people lost their jobs in Edmonton, where Finning Canada has its head office.% O2 R9 ]) ~9 y1 \2 o+ O
; n$ |5 ~, Y- c"It's the toughest decision we have to make in our business life, and it's been a hard few days for us," Hunt said.
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It brings Finning Canada's workforce down to about 4,300.0 C8 \9 A S2 V
) R3 ]( s7 X1 c; V8 g( T0 s& HNo hourly workers - who service and rebuild construction and mining equipment - are affected.' v9 o, l" W, f$ v5 ]1 `
$ ^ A5 K0 x! Z. v& W' IIn fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said.
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"That's the paradoxical thing. Even though things are changing, Fort McMurray (Alta.) is still growing, and we need more people up there," he said.& H+ G6 c) d' Q3 t
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"It's our customers who are going to get us through this, and that's the last place we want to cut.". I/ V0 c2 [* o! e5 T
9 s6 b1 Q* Z0 a( A' OThe recent delays and cancellations of oilsands projects - a major income source for Finning - was not a factor in the layoffs, Hunt said.6 X/ z2 d9 ?/ D! h7 b i
) R' r, D- Q; q8 p3 u7 o" N M2 ]"We're still very busy in the oilsands."" y' m! |% Z8 d2 z
5 c5 k% ?( \; Z2 e0 N, QHunt said Finning has been immune to recent downturns, but is now being affected by slowing sales in some areas.
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They will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added.
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* X4 y9 q: B4 l, Y* LThe employees, most of whom got the bad news Wednesday, will get severance packages and outplacement help, he said.
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) s+ r3 _- h0 p. ?" ~Mike Waites, CEO of Vancouver-based parent company Finning International Inc., recently lowered the 2008 earnings guidance due to a slowdown in some of its businesses in Western Canada and the United Kingdom.7 n5 X9 A# Q2 @/ f8 h$ ^& r
5 V( Z/ O6 j* T& o# |/ h/ g/ }Demand for new equipment will likely soften and some purchases may be deferred, but that will result in an increase in its parts and service business - Finning's most profitable business - he said.
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Finning reported third-quarter net income of $64.8 million compared to $63.6 million for the same quarter last year. Revenues were a record $1.46 billion, compared to $1.33 billion a year before.
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Its order backlog has also grown to a new record of $2 billion, dominated by mining equipment, "and provides good revenue visibility for 2009 and into 2010," Waites said. |
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