 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。; f7 q# y% p# b5 \( T
1 _6 E" Y6 t' F
Finning Canada has laid off 160 salaried staff in Alberta and B.C. as sales of Caterpillar equipment slows in the economic downturn.3 R) G+ c; S3 J' F7 y$ B b
/ d: J2 _+ [4 Q! e9 R/ V
Every office and every staff level, from support staff to management, in both provinces were affected, human resources vice-president Miles Hunt said Thursday.
9 l+ V: w5 N! c; j% R' g& y; A: A" y1 i0 y+ {5 p' M/ i
Twenty-nine people lost their jobs in Edmonton, where Finning Canada has its head office./ X4 P& ^3 T- Q- j
3 r p- T; U! `( E
"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.
7 n2 ]! _9 ^- U) F& K7 o# A5 b+ G2 D
It brings Finning Canada's workforce down to about 4,300.
% P$ \+ U& v. l% P" n
$ M7 d2 n: d1 q' ]No hourly workers - who service and rebuild construction and mining equipment - are affected.' C. q3 m; s) N8 m2 w3 y" g) t
! H) q) {. F( f2 q. W
In fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said.% Q& Z ?- h7 [* R3 ?6 i/ D( D
! Y+ x; J8 ?& ]( k6 u! [+ ~"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.
, D# o0 U! G) A3 A) f: a% |( P7 K9 N9 W/ n" {# V
"It's our customers who are going to get us through this, and that's the last place we want to cut."! z6 r$ n, Y( V2 k' w# A" o
! y& N* [7 O5 T8 U# vThe recent delays and cancellations of oilsands projects - a major income source for Finning - was not a factor in the layoffs, Hunt said.
! c- Y* ]' E5 [3 I9 I# U
; K% ?4 O' P$ M! Z; o$ N& r"We're still very busy in the oilsands."
% s5 L. d4 ^% X6 ^1 r$ l- T9 n, _4 [0 g$ D( k+ e- H
Hunt said Finning has been immune to recent downturns, but is now being affected by slowing sales in some areas.4 G/ H% R' }" |; f- O# C4 G8 O* X) L, O
6 g" L4 D# p w/ Z( c3 kThey will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added.7 O3 `% I2 v+ v/ K5 g5 J! A
M( ^/ n( z5 I# {. I
The employees, most of whom got the bad news Wednesday, will get severance packages and outplacement help, he said.+ W- ?- O0 q* N1 l" ?$ D0 x) U
) U# a; s$ L: e5 r
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.
0 ~- O- h- s0 r4 z+ Z! |( }' A/ J4 ~
2 d0 h6 ]7 H' Z. N5 p+ Q) S7 yDemand 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.
0 Z0 o* f* O3 C* l/ Z4 T' x Y# k8 {+ j# a5 D' k! x
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 $1.33 billion a year before.
% _% Q/ g$ e- R+ ~. e: t7 {& Y. e2 }6 ]0 Y0 I* d. l
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. |
|