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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。' I, B* O. R0 S% h5 G' k4 P
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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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8 j& S! ?* g5 f& Z2 q% A# x- hEvery office and every staff level, from support staff to management, in both provinces were affected, human resources vice-president Miles Hunt said Thursday.4 d9 x, D2 R- h+ k; b5 ?
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Twenty-nine people lost their jobs in Edmonton, where Finning Canada has its head office.
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! {3 a* E& n# f, 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.3 [: q% K: w; L/ H1 ], _! C
) p& E1 c6 l& m4 n$ _( yIt brings Finning Canada's workforce down to about 4,300./ J$ y+ c2 h$ m- x! n! v
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No hourly workers - who service and rebuild construction and mining equipment - are affected.
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6 C- ^+ j: x3 xIn fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said.- A9 h* b" h7 M2 ^7 | h
3 B5 i5 j% v1 e5 f- J* V2 s7 A"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.5 n4 M: h- h% S7 P
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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 q( V8 \, [, `
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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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"We're still very busy in the oilsands."6 }) I/ t4 [+ I- v
O$ Q# Q, O* n- i M9 d% h! zHunt said Finning has been immune to recent downturns, but is now being affected by slowing sales in some areas.$ S7 E$ a1 i2 N0 o' h6 n
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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./ Y2 v2 w5 ^9 L d7 l9 x
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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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1 b* X2 t S# S# 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.
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% M `. O- L2 `1 s4 o1 {4 B2 IFinning 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., E* ^ V o1 ~7 C, k/ I5 N4 m, Z
3 Z4 t5 K6 l% OIts 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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