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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。
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& B; f1 k, k: g4 G: zFinning Canada has laid off 160 salaried staff in Alberta and B.C. as sales of Caterpillar equipment slows in the economic downturn.7 T. I1 M- H. k+ ?% c, }
' Z9 @/ S( L$ Z2 n% N$ tEvery 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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' V$ v; t/ |' w# O6 bTwenty-nine people lost their jobs in Edmonton, where Finning Canada has its head office.0 ~! e8 N4 U+ ?6 ^* m D! T" @4 y
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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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1 R5 V. r" q% d. {( HIt brings Finning Canada's workforce down to about 4,300.+ A) k! ^4 `! r, p- ]
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No hourly workers - who service and rebuild construction and mining equipment - are affected.# p( z8 _$ }$ {" b7 H r) R
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In fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said.5 T6 F9 t# j6 [5 b4 e
/ d7 W( r. O2 L. |- J"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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8 J5 @9 p6 X1 m1 P3 @* B# b"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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- i6 R- e# ?8 U# |2 U UThe 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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9 R+ v7 q) V5 R* h" @They will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added.$ u( o% b; d2 R5 _: O0 [
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The employees, most of whom got the bad news Wednesday, will get severance packages and outplacement help, he said.3 a/ F1 ^' y( P7 f
0 W* }" T0 o8 w' \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.+ ^: Q5 Y4 R& Z- B7 ]4 k
8 K+ U1 Q. ?; b, N. m! uDemand 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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% ~9 s4 C4 c) P8 r$ n: B. rFinning 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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