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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。- I" Z' [6 m4 I/ l
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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.$ o6 y$ X4 Q5 z' z5 i3 Y1 @
: h2 Q" t) o+ L7 X# tEvery office and every staff level, from support staff to management, in both provinces were affected, human resources vice-president Miles Hunt said Thursday.8 b/ Q5 }: g. D3 I- D, p7 E
1 l/ [8 V% P1 K/ G QTwenty-nine people lost their jobs in Edmonton, where Finning Canada has its head office." J6 L1 r; o! y$ H/ n G5 \
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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.
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4 G) J2 Y+ v k7 }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./ B1 a2 u, C I3 u' N& N" V
0 E0 T9 ~9 W/ _. q2 o2 IIn fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said.* H8 C/ ^& b7 @/ A0 y6 r% [9 F
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"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."5 T y2 d c1 t* @, D$ d
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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.* c% N- @8 S* G4 P, I X1 k. C
5 C/ S1 d$ `+ Q N3 D; J: H"We're still very busy in the oilsands."1 c/ d9 E( C9 v! @, o4 w7 @
, ~ x3 v; ?! Q4 MHunt 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.7 G2 R5 _8 E4 z1 U9 L3 V7 |
, f9 U4 {6 S3 [$ b3 ] ]3 ~The employees, most of whom got the bad news Wednesday, will get severance packages and outplacement help, he said.& v. s; W" ^1 e: Y5 {& z
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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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* w/ H* z C' m. @: W/ DDemand 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.- q8 q' d' `$ |" L
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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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