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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。. o3 _3 J7 q+ S1 Y; q! W
- ?2 H" d1 w8 O6 s0 j2 u% z2 H T% JFinning Canada has laid off 160 salaried staff in Alberta and B.C. as sales of Caterpillar equipment slows in the economic downturn.1 L; S$ ^7 M$ b6 k: @; o: a5 F8 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.
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Twenty-nine people lost their jobs in Edmonton, where Finning Canada has its head office.* b$ i6 }1 d$ R: F
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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.5 j( U. f0 G" G
. G5 p' S+ \/ B$ ?, K% ^It brings Finning Canada's workforce down to about 4,300.# g. m: E Y2 E1 D
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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.
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7 g# i/ Z: ^/ T$ i, v8 q: ^"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."
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- _; |4 `4 S3 uThe 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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% c$ D. R' ]% i4 D8 }- ["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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; Z7 D/ u# y C2 o+ BThey will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added.9 w0 x# e6 T2 M3 K) @
1 M+ \, o! U4 e+ sThe employees, most of whom got the bad news Wednesday, will get severance packages and outplacement help, he said.; B7 r% N6 A. g& a# i( V
' g- Y+ u4 v; QMike 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.2 A0 A2 L, J1 O: J
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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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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.# @ s) }; w" f4 E! |: N
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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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