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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。7 l7 S6 p* _. L) i3 ]' C7 C- N
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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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/ t( E! G& L( mEvery office and every staff level, from support staff to management, in both provinces were affected, human resources vice-president Miles Hunt said Thursday.8 A6 {9 _: r! ?4 E l7 n
E& { K2 E, }3 |4 mTwenty-nine people lost their jobs in Edmonton, where Finning Canada has its head office.7 f. v+ \2 L* z' q: ~
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"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.$ s5 S5 o' U5 H
# n( l, I$ O8 sIt brings Finning Canada's workforce down to about 4,300.: E* b ?. z' H, V8 q F! s) C
7 V! w! |4 I* {& X; PNo hourly workers - who service and rebuild construction and mining equipment - are affected.
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8 F4 [! i9 L$ X4 ?- B |5 @5 BIn fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said.
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9 p* h" f4 t1 D, V) |' H"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.
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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."
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The recent delays and cancellations of oilsands projects - a major income source for Finning - was not a factor in the layoffs, Hunt said.
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"We're still very busy in the oilsands."' y+ p- B$ l! B
* z9 G6 V) p' n1 [; {Hunt said Finning has been immune to recent downturns, but is now being affected by slowing sales in some areas.0 q/ t* I+ P6 G
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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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9 ~0 q. |1 \* Y; W# Y+ pThe employees, most of whom got the bad news Wednesday, will get severance packages and outplacement help, he said.( r' l1 b' U$ f* f" g
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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.
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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.9 g1 n* E8 L- I6 s, ], A
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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 $1.33 billion a year before., n- \! M' y8 ]$ t" s/ V
3 o& Q7 r. A5 x& yIts 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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