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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。) y+ w! ~; O |& {
& L4 G1 y/ g; F" v1 bFinning Canada has laid off 160 salaried staff in Alberta and B.C. as sales of Caterpillar equipment slows in the economic downturn.: n" s! I* M/ f( @# e3 P
3 g$ @, F( r3 L- s' O+ aEvery 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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' F1 a( z) N( Z! }. @; qTwenty-nine people lost their jobs in Edmonton, where Finning Canada has its head office./ {( Q" P5 g2 i! n
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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.' ?5 b, J& U( x* R2 B
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It brings Finning Canada's workforce down to about 4,300.) S& L9 J; `6 t, |' O8 B
5 j1 U8 f) a- }! }No hourly workers - who service and rebuild construction and mining equipment - are affected.* ]% u9 [, l3 Y& a8 S( @2 v
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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.
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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."6 N( f+ O7 q r2 r. j) k# ]5 ]
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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./ i9 K1 U" U/ n- M0 P! b4 n, q4 ?
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"We're still very busy in the oilsands."4 H% e5 u9 J0 q% Z) f2 P
! h8 |2 d, E, ?7 [% h% n+ [Hunt said Finning has been immune to recent downturns, but is now being affected by slowing sales in some areas.
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. z3 T I2 w% U2 `: b0 \& A# `They will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added.
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' k0 R* ]! }4 BThe employees, most of whom got the bad news Wednesday, will get severance packages and outplacement help, he said.
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0 q: d6 A9 }3 P ~# g3 C3 eMike 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.' j1 e. _4 T$ B/ F' S0 [3 a
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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.; R8 f u z$ O9 X
+ x6 s" U* V% W0 `& qFinning 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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7 u4 V2 D% p6 q2 HIts 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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