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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。
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: r) ?$ x; r/ Z$ q# q# TFinning Canada has laid off 160 salaried staff in Alberta and B.C. as sales of Caterpillar equipment slows in the economic downturn.6 J! g2 _$ k, q# w2 U/ [
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Every 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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7 s# q- K6 Z, z5 O. F! z' YTwenty-nine people lost their jobs in Edmonton, where Finning Canada has its head office.2 f# x: u! l6 `9 h, |
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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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It brings Finning Canada's workforce down to about 4,300.9 f5 ~8 h1 n/ [
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No hourly workers - who service and rebuild construction and mining equipment - are affected.2 W7 y8 j1 c( e4 J( O/ k5 m4 s2 V, B
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In fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said. r8 w R1 Z: ?
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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.% M8 w, w g" V+ g# @- v" _
1 l( R; X8 I" G. J"It's our customers who are going to get us through this, and that's the last place we want to cut.". v: B# g2 \6 x; K' r+ [5 y B
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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.4 _, j0 Z9 c& C8 H
% B. z% E" P& g8 c6 u. }" B" Z"We're still very busy in the oilsands."/ e5 w" r( T3 ^2 A
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Hunt said Finning has been immune to recent downturns, but is now being affected by slowing sales in some areas.& \; g5 t/ B; C
! Z; \& o9 s* s+ Y# t" tThey will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added.4 J/ K) b- w: h. g5 N
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The employees, most of whom got the bad news Wednesday, will get severance packages and outplacement help, he said.6 m/ l5 Q3 v# Z+ m. u% I" M% m0 E
* i7 Y4 D2 Q7 d1 l1 @8 EMike 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.) j4 l) {( N" \. V% d) w6 D, j
1 J# i# `& O' W% cDemand 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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/ L) L2 v0 f; g; ^, y0 a. H; r* T! lFinning 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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