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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。
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p4 y, J3 [! P$ n0 mFinning 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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8 S# [: Y$ h5 ^+ sEvery office and every staff level, from support staff to management, in both provinces were affected, human resources vice-president Miles Hunt said Thursday.6 A0 y8 M7 D/ Z' ]0 Z/ X8 W& n) K
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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.
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No hourly workers - who service and rebuild construction and mining equipment - are affected.% v, a) E7 J& h. r4 {
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In fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said.2 ~0 }$ n* @* j6 G
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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.# e- r8 [0 ~: ?+ O2 z5 s
@, [* `0 H; w* z+ B9 f. ` D" k, m"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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( m( |. {, p6 n; ]) uThe recent delays and cancellations of oilsands projects - a major income source for Finning - was not a factor in the layoffs, Hunt said.: y6 h- u) ^4 k g
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"We're still very busy in the oilsands."
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2 c" p6 i8 B( k; A ^ sHunt said Finning has been immune to recent downturns, but is now being affected by slowing sales in some areas.% i: g b. D. H. o$ B) s
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They will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added.
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; c9 o! Q" l# v8 x3 E3 ~& T2 z6 z, SThe employees, most of whom got the bad news Wednesday, will get severance packages and outplacement help, he said.
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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.
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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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. {+ Y! Q5 H6 H( e! ^/ \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.8 x* L; i# q C7 w
4 v% i8 \; v& FIts 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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