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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.
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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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5 j9 G! O, C* k* V0 VTwenty-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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It brings Finning Canada's workforce down to about 4,300.# [6 _0 L7 B, i) A; G% R; R
& k) e6 w; x/ E7 G2 dNo hourly workers - who service and rebuild construction and mining equipment - are affected.
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In fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said.' {' k, i, C5 ~9 _( ?4 o# u; \ A* E5 R
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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.
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+ Q; a8 r% K; T: n$ Z"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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: }$ e( I( [8 z3 [- V% D' N& kThe recent delays and cancellations of oilsands projects - a major income source for Finning - was not a factor in the layoffs, Hunt said.) v9 \& ~7 x7 |9 m
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"We're still very busy in the oilsands."4 f3 ]' B9 S n9 ^- g& ?
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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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They will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added.* U, I( G8 P; R
1 R9 q, }- M+ J0 B. U# S# {/ J" \4 VThe employees, most of whom got the bad news Wednesday, will get severance packages and outplacement help, he said.
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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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$ T9 ~& w: g: v( z' a+ \3 w1 @Demand 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.$ G3 [; w9 o1 h( V y
) z1 B/ _4 F X0 R# B3 ~& wFinning 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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0 P L' \6 i. W sIts 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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