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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。
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9 }7 ]. Z" |% O( e2 s: hFinning Canada has laid off 160 salaried staff in Alberta and B.C. as sales of Caterpillar equipment slows in the economic downturn.' ]6 d6 W) X$ X$ U
/ ^# F' ]- }- b4 `Every office and every staff level, from support staff to management, in both provinces were affected, human resources vice-president Miles Hunt said Thursday.4 R! e" c( T$ h3 g5 S
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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.6 i- `; Y+ m" ^- ~; b! M0 Q0 a
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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.
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In fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said.! ?% B/ z6 a5 g) {
8 ^) ^" @/ m* p4 S" ~"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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' Q. M: n. Q, C"It's our customers who are going to get us through this, and that's the last place we want to cut."* |. z: M, Y# a6 r: v$ F# ?: g
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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., `" [7 {% g; a) f0 @& \
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"We're still very busy in the oilsands."/ y6 d5 ]8 v, |' X! n4 w. Q' 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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5 S S7 ]3 z2 f5 Q% b4 X; M) eThey will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added.7 F: |# a+ u! b% P
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The 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.' k4 {2 ?5 `( U% Y& B6 o
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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.+ x* c7 c. L" o; g2 C# N) e
6 \4 { E, G; P3 X' x( yFinning 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 $1.33 billion a year before.
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: D- m A- f. D3 ~5 q$ P( JIts 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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