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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。
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4 K5 R$ Z; u) p' k9 H* }; T( ?3 z6 h; dFinning Canada has laid off 160 salaried staff in Alberta and B.C. as sales of Caterpillar equipment slows in the economic downturn.9 n! H2 ?& P; T2 b
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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.2 X/ `$ q5 t0 N+ e. z2 J
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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.' B: v9 \; J M7 w* J) O% L
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No 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.6 j0 g3 b) e/ m- _( u
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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.6 o: d' Q; [4 `, g9 t
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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."4 L1 g0 [1 H" U3 n
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The recent delays and cancellations of oilsands projects - a major income source for Finning - was not a factor in the layoffs, Hunt said.* E+ l% J) X; ~
% X, z9 W* I/ ]% S: A9 H- t. l"We're still very busy in the oilsands."
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g: y" h. t$ i- Z4 uHunt 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.
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The employees, most of whom got the bad news Wednesday, will get severance packages and outplacement help, he said.# W6 P U% {0 Y0 O$ r! _ o) o( o
5 B2 Z0 o( B, v7 m5 p, gMike 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.6 t: ~/ U2 ~: h& @
7 U% e% m4 `4 W4 SDemand 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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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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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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