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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。+ h4 r5 F6 K; `! ?( B
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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., l6 R" _4 J) l2 w
1 A/ w& ^! X* r$ y. }8 j$ |/ Q' IEvery 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* j" s" q6 ^. A( e/ N, |% MTwenty-nine people lost their jobs in Edmonton, where Finning Canada has its head office.
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0 t6 J8 K: ^7 P$ \$ p7 Y) |" ["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." `' U7 B* f" |1 W- {% A: J( y
+ l$ D( h3 Z# v) U* XIt 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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6 s; j$ ^& }/ jIn fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said.6 d( r3 W5 S9 {
; O% A) i' b) h" y- A7 ?/ G"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.* [( [- f9 {6 L6 e1 v
8 g% b; Q+ x4 y* a9 p; _"It's our customers who are going to get us through this, and that's the last place we want to cut."! f3 d: p8 a, i% f$ L! w" R
) L8 D5 w' H) c5 sThe 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."
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0 R/ W1 V2 ^9 ? nHunt said Finning has been immune to recent downturns, but is now being affected by slowing sales in some areas.
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2 E# f1 x I0 UThey will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added.. B% |9 q$ ~& e" j& s$ }: l
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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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) X1 r2 e2 q; o% b! t% g5 BMike 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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$ |, u/ T1 [8 I. K% _, d) Q0 BDemand 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.! \; C1 Z) D8 G9 V) Q( u
. l$ g4 o& U2 r) S; ^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.( E( Q- R2 K/ a
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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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