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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。
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; f& {4 s! i- w- D% tFinning 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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, m) i. e+ }- REvery office and every staff level, from support staff to management, in both provinces were affected, human resources vice-president Miles Hunt said Thursday.$ i* r' p' M, k; D0 E
1 c. _, |0 `* ]5 l& uTwenty-nine people lost their jobs in Edmonton, where Finning Canada has its head office.
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/ q' g( a, ?/ Q' 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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It brings Finning Canada's workforce down to about 4,300.
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No hourly workers - who service and rebuild construction and mining equipment - are affected.
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In fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said.
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+ i; j4 v5 I( Y$ R0 A$ m"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." V( {" H) U" f; P b
' r' F" s3 [9 U5 cThe 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."1 F* E& \3 o1 r0 s7 K
+ r) H) ~2 D# {6 aHunt 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.# o& f' K# L, Z, g8 p# [, ^7 r# R5 \
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The employees, most of whom got the bad news Wednesday, will get severance packages and outplacement help, he said.6 |% b4 T: ?1 s% R4 W/ ~; `7 S
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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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/ i4 ?/ {- j/ a$ m" @0 U v% M9 VDemand 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.2 J; |: i: g& }: i4 ?
* k7 J) J9 u) RFinning 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.# C, {; y; a" u
% i9 y7 {7 j0 a* }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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