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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。
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' R/ u% Q3 ^1 x, }" L& {Finning 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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! X c6 L2 t' u) hEvery 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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Twenty-nine people lost their jobs in Edmonton, where Finning Canada has its head office./ Y- R2 q2 l. i. }. Y9 z: o
- a8 \& K6 o6 A+ L0 q4 j"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.: i. M/ Q! O: y" S4 B! M
$ z S) E* ?+ i' E& b. }) OIt brings Finning Canada's workforce down to about 4,300.
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% A) h7 T1 X+ l( R, YNo hourly workers - who service and rebuild construction and mining equipment - are affected.8 o, [ O; v1 _# `/ T5 d! a
4 w6 K$ d# P, q6 GIn fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said.7 \; [0 x0 q% x
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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 }; L6 S( @/ Y( 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.
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"We're still very busy in the oilsands."
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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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They 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.
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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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8 \% P7 p; ?1 ]' yDemand 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.4 t* b4 ]% T( N- D2 o, E
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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 $1.33 billion a year before./ X ^; s$ C0 V
3 H# b2 ]8 ^4 L9 }/ `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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