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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。7 o9 Q6 I- t$ Z6 m- b
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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. j8 R& j; I1 O8 Z; \, ?
- w: ^/ v* W0 |; [1 i"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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It brings Finning Canada's workforce down to about 4,300.- L7 t3 I# Q% u
: t# H: b8 n/ a* N" ~* a6 LNo 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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"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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- Q1 Y5 H9 X, X$ ?7 ?8 _( mThe recent delays and cancellations of oilsands projects - a major income source for Finning - was not a factor in the layoffs, Hunt said.. [3 \) o! m' p: ?
* _" v& X. E7 [0 w* H6 F"We're still very busy in the oilsands."6 `6 Y9 \5 [" H9 g! x$ T
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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.3 m( f* J6 X8 y$ Y; U3 E
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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.
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2 J8 q7 v$ P: ?7 }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.: W5 V1 J- u5 U: c: z8 }8 y1 i
. ` L) s( E4 w9 `- f$ pFinning 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 $1.33 billion a year before." H L8 j1 x$ x2 G# C0 m
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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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