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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。* q9 R" N7 H) Y* r6 V/ G
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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.1 r+ o& O: N: P; W- c2 p
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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 J$ f6 u; |- P" K! x, Y) d3 ?
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Twenty-nine people lost their jobs in Edmonton, where Finning Canada has its head office.1 G& Z( v2 U5 O- x9 i$ z1 p
" g, s, N- P0 b"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." K$ r: i1 h6 Z3 A0 O' D2 W! X
* A: n! z' J2 L: s" @! mIt brings Finning Canada's workforce down to about 4,300.+ k7 L' h2 i- ?$ T' e% f
v/ }, z% l5 vNo hourly workers - who service and rebuild construction and mining equipment - are affected.
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5 @# o% T" |0 Q! \) T2 [. K4 |In fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said. D3 Z: S' a& ~, B: ^, h
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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.) b" O$ d. ]: |4 ]: }
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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."9 k6 z( |% b2 `% d) R: ]$ B$ u# G4 Q
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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.
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t( J* L4 c2 {- p# L0 H; F; @"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.8 ?* z+ b" r- j: ]" h# d" b! J) K6 A
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They will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added.9 p/ g7 Y7 l$ e3 r& E- g1 f
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The employees, most of whom got the bad news Wednesday, will get severance packages and outplacement help, he said.1 e0 N! z; p& [5 y8 \2 w6 L* k
: {5 }9 A+ `4 M* F7 U9 tMike 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 m2 f- D, _/ C+ @1 V p
, z- A+ M0 w! q/ `: ?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.3 v9 P) W) t6 x+ d) y
+ y# {) R; V1 L* ?) Y% u4 iFinning 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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, X" ?) f4 ~) N( ~& @% TIts 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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