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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.3 i9 b/ W- G2 H% w. J3 ?
- _- w0 K# M- @! O, Z2 FEvery office and every staff level, from support staff to management, in both provinces were affected, human resources vice-president Miles Hunt said Thursday." K& Z1 J. x/ |3 c) t
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Twenty-nine people lost their jobs in Edmonton, where Finning Canada has its head office.$ U( ]0 j; L& O d
' Q2 j" Z- ]1 Y" M3 Q"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+ O3 S, P8 @
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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.
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+ h" }. a4 I5 \In fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said.1 @: ?' U3 c: y0 u0 _/ p
3 m- ^( o. i# ?0 d U"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 j9 f" I% a' p. Q* e
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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.3 T) N$ }; Q9 W/ R% P
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"We're still very busy in the oilsands."
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: e- S3 H& x% Y& @+ oHunt said Finning has been immune to recent downturns, but is now being affected by slowing sales in some areas.! V! N, i1 r4 J$ |# S, A! M1 R0 ?
0 k# p6 R* M. iThey will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added.( I4 @8 z% C8 U/ J$ w
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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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- E5 M6 \$ F4 O% y3 w0 FMike 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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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- W, s$ d) E2 j8 j) g& D
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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 $1.33 billion a year before.
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5 W' \: E, R. [$ QIts 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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