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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。
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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.* |1 |+ |, `8 [" u( L1 P/ ]
( Y$ } f4 O0 e+ H7 p) y5 B* l5 fEvery office and every staff level, from support staff to management, in both provinces were affected, human resources vice-president Miles Hunt said Thursday.. y8 S6 j0 r" e1 t6 x0 s4 t( p) l$ P
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Twenty-nine people lost their jobs in Edmonton, where Finning Canada has its head office.
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7 ^5 |. ?+ N2 m! r/ _5 l# n. P"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.: W b9 m7 H: s
2 V! |& Q: T9 }In fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said. j' h7 W* o3 r4 E+ g" N$ ^
3 F4 X2 N$ P; F* E4 ?" ["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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& @# K1 \0 c& m* _6 I"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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& A! x9 G9 L# ] ]% \- Q( 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."" {2 V1 |% J* w+ {* t
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Hunt said Finning has been immune to recent downturns, but is now being affected by slowing sales in some areas.
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" x8 b) l |8 z* OThey will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added.
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The employees, most of whom got the bad news Wednesday, will get severance packages and outplacement help, he said.+ S9 N' i1 i) Q. O( {1 ?3 M
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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.& [! K& z9 i( ]9 ~- H
) R A Q1 u- J) P( ]7 ]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.$ l/ M5 U s" w
( ~9 _) F! S; }1 s: m# x) z3 [; n; r! EFinning 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 $1.33 billion a year before.' J' c8 I( i& M `8 y3 B1 v
! R$ F# ~( B6 f( x; h, OIts 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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