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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.' L9 N" W0 d; A& [
/ s; X1 q8 E3 IEvery office and every staff level, from support staff to management, in both provinces were affected, human resources vice-president Miles Hunt said Thursday.5 S* W- y* Z+ Z* @ k0 M$ w) {/ j
n# o7 e7 Y" k5 ~Twenty-nine people lost their jobs in Edmonton, where Finning Canada has its head office.1 y3 F/ i$ s0 x1 [2 V
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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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# O5 @. ^; b& J8 J6 W) y# fIt brings Finning Canada's workforce down to about 4,300.1 V# Q( d) f8 Q2 L5 b( ~/ r
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No hourly workers - who service and rebuild construction and mining equipment - are affected.+ R$ t3 i# I6 [1 t6 p# k6 l, G% ~
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In fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said." ?3 g1 x3 k3 c0 s* k$ X
4 x9 s) \& n6 L: {+ I# O"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."# D' i7 e4 c- p: I1 Q2 K' \
( s4 T" H6 l/ }' ^& a% yThe recent delays and cancellations of oilsands projects - a major income source for Finning - was not a factor in the layoffs, Hunt said.( u8 L3 G; B; v: d
% c* N8 j) M8 @& m"We're still very busy in the oilsands."5 {+ X# v0 E$ [9 z
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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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1 X& o5 `+ R9 S- Y% }$ Y/ r& JThey will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added.
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0 X; q9 q, m0 D" PThe employees, most of whom got the bad news Wednesday, will get severance packages and outplacement help, he said.3 }3 U& u" O7 p0 U0 |5 w) L
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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.# q! G7 N2 ~ \0 d
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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. m& }0 v6 Y- m7 ]5 s# ^/ O) U
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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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* M. g! v) {( J5 K0 uIts 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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