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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。
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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.7 [: G2 l4 T2 S! `/ 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.4 G* r" P& @: L8 _. {
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Twenty-nine people lost their jobs in Edmonton, where Finning Canada has its head office.
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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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+ a# v) P$ i! D% z8 T* tIt brings Finning Canada's workforce down to about 4,300.
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/ F& Z/ t' J3 I$ R, ~2 e% p2 eNo hourly workers - who service and rebuild construction and mining equipment - are affected.& \8 H1 ^ {. M7 ~+ _! z
, q. v3 w' Z; g3 L! H" H; h; gIn fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said.3 K" c! \ `0 I3 u9 i- B U0 C
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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.* C' }; G& y& }; H) ?
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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." [1 X/ d. d- ?, E3 w6 Q: @
V2 ?7 S! R3 G3 j, JThe recent delays and cancellations of oilsands projects - a major income source for Finning - was not a factor in the layoffs, Hunt said.* t' b8 e9 S: \2 p, A( q
8 z7 j" J/ i" |6 E9 v9 g% ]" _- [0 M"We're still very busy in the oilsands."% `& o3 D) {1 P$ }% v
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Hunt said Finning has been immune to recent downturns, but is now being affected by slowing sales in some areas., c3 s9 U: X* x2 k- A1 d
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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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/ I& l5 s* `1 T, H9 A; z3 VThe employees, most of whom got the bad news Wednesday, will get severance packages and outplacement help, he said." e9 Y) a$ f% m6 ~6 v$ L4 M
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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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, I, ~; G9 A* {, m6 j. y! a) k. cDemand 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.4 M* Z+ E, q+ e7 w4 Y% ?0 I
# L- J4 M; @) Y& OFinning 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 $1.33 billion a year before.6 y- j* t7 z- {9 Y$ M- g f8 v- q
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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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