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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。8 V3 H# M; r- X7 C2 X
0 y( Q" }9 M% ^8 M* I1 TFinning 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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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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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.
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It brings Finning Canada's workforce down to about 4,300./ ]2 M3 f5 ]* h+ x6 O/ Y
0 n% K( \* F+ u( A- ]2 e1 a# DNo hourly workers - who service and rebuild construction and mining equipment - are affected.
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In fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said.
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6 ]5 G! J! l5 G2 O) A"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."7 ?( z5 u6 Q. V" @- n$ k2 B$ r& E
: S/ M; J) }% c3 D% OThe 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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`# M8 y8 E8 C5 h- C! U"We're still very busy in the oilsands."1 {8 R2 {, [) d6 k+ v& _
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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.3 S" n4 Q) f- H7 E( K( f5 n5 u
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The employees, most of whom got the bad news Wednesday, will get severance packages and outplacement help, he said.. o6 ^4 C* K# X: D. e
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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.0 O) ~6 @ z) Z& |* _
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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.
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( @0 Z8 ]: ]1 n0 P$ k( @6 CFinning 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 $1.33 billion a year before.
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, a- e$ w! B# K0 u* A6 f" aIts 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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