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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。" w2 A7 ?# |$ J
) ?1 A! ~$ o! i; M+ j% t) i7 S6 q8 EFinning 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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3 I! Y- X2 G ~+ eEvery 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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* w. `7 e. g- ^( |. x2 vTwenty-nine people lost their jobs in Edmonton, where Finning Canada has its head office.
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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.5 t/ M& ^+ C a* o7 E/ _& o
4 y: ]" w3 j3 f7 VIt brings Finning Canada's workforce down to about 4,300.( ^, @0 u6 I& a: N
9 |2 N# L9 Z9 X* Y3 @No hourly workers - who service and rebuild construction and mining equipment - are affected.
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: x/ u' ^$ A+ O8 SIn fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said.* Y" n0 m4 l" B0 w
; ]3 N8 P# S: j( x1 P$ D"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.- `# M- s' J2 S5 r) ~2 o8 a; _1 f* M
) `6 e( V# J. u, E1 }+ a"It's our customers who are going to get us through this, and that's the last place we want to cut."0 M8 b z f! i6 \/ t
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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.' i2 u2 x5 n' @4 I! b
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"We're still very busy in the oilsands."
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7 v5 d' F+ g/ {1 B8 fHunt said Finning has been immune to recent downturns, but is now being affected by slowing sales in some areas.
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# i) L- l$ T& j9 v. p) \* fThey will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added.( @! R0 h& d; c9 @7 F
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The employees, most of whom got the bad news Wednesday, will get severance packages and outplacement help, he said.
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& ^% m& H& P$ V2 zMike 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.+ x( F$ \7 q# i4 ^% I) O$ \- Z
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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.* Z j& E9 I* T8 p4 r! d
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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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