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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。8 u/ l+ d/ w& M' i' L2 K9 ~. k& P
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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.
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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.9 X# i9 E. d. {: }8 ~) _4 |
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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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. W" X0 E9 @3 D. UIt brings Finning Canada's workforce down to about 4,300.7 h8 {. R/ |) U; B
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No hourly workers - who service and rebuild construction and mining equipment - are affected.& Y; i6 z5 L7 N
+ Q# g( l' X, VIn fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said.
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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.
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' P% v* Y1 T F"It's our customers who are going to get us through this, and that's the last place we want to cut."4 f( k8 E U' q4 H; Y x! m) R
) |8 x* K, ?3 A1 _. P+ }, _. q( D" ?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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a; w* b( ^: s! @! o"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.3 o7 K1 \1 z Q' g# r s- E- T ]
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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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/ S7 w( D- x. ]7 |/ 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.% o4 }7 i; x+ [4 i/ x" S; R' u- G
# j3 ~+ f" X8 b5 ?$ T) 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.$ ^! [6 m! s. r
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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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. v0 a7 Y+ x) ]" e: m1 Y: wIts 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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