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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。6 T; q4 B6 \9 I4 k
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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.9 A1 N3 o% a& o5 s
7 v9 |! @* Q, J3 W7 F: i' e5 c, I3 WEvery office and every staff level, from support staff to management, in both provinces were affected, human resources vice-president Miles Hunt said Thursday.* M; V$ o& g4 b: H# p) e
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Twenty-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., X) q( e2 r0 D [6 e4 p
2 }3 O% ] P: i3 }/ OIt brings Finning Canada's workforce down to about 4,300.
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+ f/ v. g* o3 ^, \& `$ c8 XNo hourly workers - who service and rebuild construction and mining equipment - are affected.4 X7 N6 e, \/ y% A+ U1 A9 C
7 }- X7 P- c7 a% F# B! h) cIn fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said.
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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.# X/ j5 v* y2 Z2 { G3 Y
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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."
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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.
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"We're still very busy in the oilsands.": p- B; |4 C8 a! L _0 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.5 a+ D2 H% f: s7 r2 ]/ a" v$ @
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They will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added.
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" ?; f( d0 h9 H$ b2 j& x/ h0 MThe employees, most of whom got the bad news Wednesday, will get severance packages and outplacement help, he said.7 {8 A# [/ \' r# U9 J: A
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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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/ c g1 A I! t* d2 I( FDemand 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.
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, z% f# {& i5 `; z* a sFinning 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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