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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。' j. v' b" q+ T& b
( K" d; p( v! i" R/ ]! X. JFinning Canada has laid off 160 salaried staff in Alberta and B.C. as sales of Caterpillar equipment slows in the economic downturn.
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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.4 k6 x3 C( {& f. l' _" P
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Twenty-nine people lost their jobs in Edmonton, where Finning Canada has its head office.2 V, E1 V. X! ^5 f- v
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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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% p- i, _: x# TIt 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.
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, M3 b b4 Z0 L* v"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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; u3 S- Q" n; y"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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1 D" ]9 r i. ]8 x3 c& X5 UThe recent delays and cancellations of oilsands projects - a major income source for Finning - was not a factor in the layoffs, Hunt said.7 K% T- C: ]0 O- b
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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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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.
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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.- W$ N6 ]2 x. l4 |; m8 m
; y* y0 a( i/ w+ j. [ l, UDemand 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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& ^* F; F6 p- i6 CFinning 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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# y5 u7 A }. Z, d# KIts 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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