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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.4 u8 p: H- F" N* t
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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.3 A a3 I. C; K/ [( S0 a
, \1 l3 c, E1 E3 Q0 {, JTwenty-nine people lost their jobs in Edmonton, where Finning Canada has its head office.. r! @9 V0 [3 Y/ y$ P! r- z# }
' [1 \9 J: `7 l2 W"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.2 T: @- Q* P3 H# A6 P2 t7 s
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It brings Finning Canada's workforce down to about 4,300.9 V) \, E& G) I, A- X2 X
$ G- q7 n* Q4 e/ R/ TNo hourly workers - who service and rebuild construction and mining equipment - are affected." B5 `. n& x& D
) W/ o$ K( d* ]" h yIn fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said.
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# d5 n6 `$ @1 k"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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; p K( o4 B8 I) H7 P3 ~"It's our customers who are going to get us through this, and that's the last place we want to cut."7 t) V0 p; c/ A V* e
, b. e. c8 e2 I- SThe recent delays and cancellations of oilsands projects - a major income source for Finning - was not a factor in the layoffs, Hunt said.# q% [8 D. U- ?
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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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2 R! x/ q9 w, a+ M) CThey will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added.
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. i$ C" I+ c5 `& G6 h$ l. N SThe employees, most of whom got the bad news Wednesday, will get severance packages and outplacement help, he said.
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+ p9 X+ C- \# [& N& `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., Y5 v/ ^0 K3 }7 t" C2 ~' i$ A
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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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( | m, X( t0 h* n2 ~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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7 d7 C% O: c! lIts 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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