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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。: I! c/ z& u# k5 }
4 q' g8 z; q' W$ c* h! |$ P% PFinning Canada has laid off 160 salaried staff in Alberta and B.C. as sales of Caterpillar equipment slows in the economic downturn.5 T0 G- L) _7 N. z+ D+ V
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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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! w# Y/ n5 _0 o+ N2 [Twenty-nine people lost their jobs in Edmonton, where Finning Canada has its head office.
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4 I. p: c7 o, e8 S$ X6 q' I* a"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.; W: i2 l1 `' @' X
9 r( d/ y( M5 v5 q; d2 e0 lIt 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., L& h2 I1 [" @* Y. I( P( \: M
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In fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said.
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% w' M! N' a! 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.1 W3 W6 l1 I; Z7 j* `! \1 u
6 D. z" j& z: c2 e: z( E"It's our customers who are going to get us through this, and that's the last place we want to cut."3 I' ?% C9 ^7 o' F) T) [, j- D
+ K8 d0 E* C. f2 hThe recent delays and cancellations of oilsands projects - a major income source for Finning - was not a factor in the layoffs, Hunt said.# W- T) F6 `, f# q( B9 A
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"We're still very busy in the oilsands."
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% a: ^! g( C. F7 I1 E( J7 zHunt said Finning has been immune to recent downturns, but is now being affected by slowing sales in some areas.( {: z4 b# p- Q: O
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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.% l- M( r- l1 l% w: M* k
# k! t' ^0 o8 H# t* l" H aMike 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.# `9 m' L, J4 B5 Q+ A1 k4 c
+ T, N. e8 w/ c# h. n) XDemand 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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4 z4 S% g# f: y+ k+ J4 HFinning 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., d, {' }7 @# u
+ W) [' ~5 c, ]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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