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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。 M9 T* [ R* P
) K7 e9 w! E7 k/ W% J2 eFinning Canada has laid off 160 salaried staff in Alberta and B.C. as sales of Caterpillar equipment slows in the economic downturn.+ T/ k& f6 X8 D. e, ~% R
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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." w' d5 M3 u& C& }
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Twenty-nine people lost their jobs in Edmonton, where Finning Canada has its head office.
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( ~3 M$ k7 m/ K6 r8 w1 D"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 D8 }+ T* C0 U% U4 o* F# {
$ J" J6 E4 n, d% ]" UNo hourly workers - who service and rebuild construction and mining equipment - are affected.4 q z5 G5 Z' b
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In fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said.
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% i, b% `6 W$ Q8 }0 Z$ N' @"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./ l7 |& o% N. ^, ?$ e
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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., _9 y( F4 ]! U2 P
4 j9 e: }4 F9 @/ R) A3 }5 o5 u"We're still very busy in the oilsands."+ X( v+ g3 z/ Q& M o* I/ m' Q0 {
4 p3 {- Z$ X6 W( V$ |Hunt said Finning has been immune to recent downturns, but is now being affected by slowing sales in some areas.6 c) k# J8 c# C; D
! F# Y/ E5 L5 p* }0 T% P# C! j" t% fThey will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added.5 ]) H7 c: N$ V5 N3 ]& \
4 X! k5 v) O8 q6 e2 yThe employees, most of whom got the bad news Wednesday, will get severance packages and outplacement help, he said.
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4 [. k0 \# r- B$ ^# |2 mMike 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.' D3 ]4 G, a% c( X
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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.
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, _' s7 m; s' K1 _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.% m, Y1 B! g; r0 [6 t* H7 G
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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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