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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。9 u/ u, d( V$ j; S; n7 R3 j
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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." k% X) r3 O; c; h
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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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! z$ V+ i6 r: k' t9 JTwenty-nine people lost their jobs in Edmonton, where Finning Canada has its head office.4 I" b1 S' A F" M3 ]0 P
% V4 p5 G( w8 x" A! ~"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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; `" B$ @$ g# s' \$ S, w- sIt brings Finning Canada's workforce down to about 4,300.. y# v& `$ p: z5 Y3 @: Z
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No hourly workers - who service and rebuild construction and mining equipment - are affected.; F% w) B: b2 d* T! f3 c- n3 W) _ L
4 O3 B& [0 Q$ l* a' r: @& ~In fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said.
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3 @- ^# D% G& {8 Z"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.! s1 A/ Y2 s0 ?1 \/ v% W
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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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) X/ C) O* @6 B6 O vThe 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."# W2 t0 ~. U& o: n, J: R
+ A$ i; M" Q. Y U' ]( X, aHunt said Finning has been immune to recent downturns, but is now being affected by slowing sales in some areas.
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+ e! p2 @ t. [2 D6 T; b# Q% V4 _# ZThey will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added.
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# h5 ^7 a' u9 `; l: KThe employees, most of whom got the bad news Wednesday, will get severance packages and outplacement help, he said.; W3 B3 w& n5 \( y4 s7 `7 O3 }
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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., I) i! t7 V$ U0 K8 i* ~: [
) O) c0 m6 b$ x, y9 O2 h4 UDemand 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.8 z" f5 U v+ `
5 z4 R# ^ ~2 R& t0 A5 w; m* z$ CFinning 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 $1.33 billion a year before.- p1 n$ ^; b& `+ J
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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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