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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。( }' w0 {/ X* j$ x7 ]+ S: q
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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.' `8 B' y9 v5 C- M$ D, O y% n
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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.
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' T& N% [5 J1 t% ]3 U" Y"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.$ u9 _2 n6 H7 C$ c( x5 o5 L
1 y8 J% G4 I, b, n7 D) F5 Y UNo hourly workers - who service and rebuild construction and mining equipment - are affected.! g, }" ~7 D& m) m7 I
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In fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said.2 x" t6 v5 o. r
! ^" c- X' o6 q* K: s* E"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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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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8 R- l1 h2 S2 b/ ~9 v$ j"We're still very busy in the oilsands."8 v. z1 M5 A4 C. g7 o
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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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* j0 {9 Z$ L7 [! }' k$ s9 sThey will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added.
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' F" s; @# i1 _- c) i3 fThe employees, most of whom got the bad news Wednesday, will get severance packages and outplacement help, he said.0 _6 U" K1 ` x) q4 o( Y
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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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. C/ [( e( @- n n6 }3 ^) |$ HDemand 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.- H$ b: m: r( ~# o: ^$ j5 s' l
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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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( D' l* c* @, |7 k+ Q5 N4 PIts 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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