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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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) W4 p% W0 l- k5 tEvery 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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% a/ H4 }. O+ m* c" \. k. qTwenty-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.& h" f: _$ L1 u& J Y, w3 y
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It brings Finning Canada's workforce down to about 4,300., |+ h/ }( r8 d8 p1 G
* G% M V, s# _. s ENo hourly workers - who service and rebuild construction and mining equipment - are affected.. C- e2 r6 P" [, ~8 q3 e+ g" s& L0 T3 a
; Q, U7 M4 m( MIn 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.' t& @0 k k4 @) h# W; s
% S6 b0 M/ B7 J2 D5 c/ V"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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7 b# V) J& \0 t( `+ wThe 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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9 ^0 N O5 d. I. V"We're still very busy in the oilsands."
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2 |6 ^* f s7 }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.
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The employees, most of whom got the bad news Wednesday, will get severance packages and outplacement help, he said.7 z& @( ?8 w U& |. H
% B2 \' h T/ p: b8 ZMike 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.& s1 j3 y5 Z* T6 ]. o- m
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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.: R( X3 O5 e/ Z: m( h: c; h) |
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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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q& q6 u0 [7 g, y/ ]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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