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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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+ f8 n r8 Q4 w+ E3 HEvery office and every staff level, from support staff to management, in both provinces were affected, human resources vice-president Miles Hunt said Thursday.6 c+ K; n0 T+ D; D1 Y. Y0 E1 }0 k, y+ O
. ]6 u @2 X* m3 N2 }( ]8 g2 o+ t! b1 \; k, GTwenty-nine people lost their jobs in Edmonton, where Finning Canada has its head office.
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% l5 f; C0 }8 b1 m$ n* K$ y5 U8 b. x3 ["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.5 X, ?, s8 [. m- p( R# ^
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It brings Finning Canada's workforce down to about 4,300.
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& `6 M# r* F) R" e' P0 ]No hourly workers - who service and rebuild construction and mining equipment - are affected., q9 |& X; g7 ?# t& f: c3 m6 D
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In fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said.
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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.9 o: z0 y4 Q+ d- _: G( E
. u% i6 _% b, i* x; V6 x2 \"It's our customers who are going to get us through this, and that's the last place we want to cut.") V- Z6 q) Z) e1 K# g' n
" u# E: t8 |+ oThe recent delays and cancellations of oilsands projects - a major income source for Finning - was not a factor in the layoffs, Hunt said.+ _, M5 D. B2 f/ L
7 Y& Q$ L* f6 C5 c# ]6 g"We're still very busy in the oilsands."' x& `4 G1 s: E: X F' `
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Hunt said Finning has been immune to recent downturns, but is now being affected by slowing sales in some areas.6 a, e" d% j( K$ T% j
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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 S9 Y: B5 l0 W! C/ o T# ^! B
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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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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.+ A* t" E% v9 s% {
A0 h% e% p2 f3 f4 ]9 L# xFinning 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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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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