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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。; {9 U) ]1 a* T$ \; `% s$ Y/ p" l: V7 |
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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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; x$ J* v( h6 w v z, ~Twenty-nine people lost their jobs in Edmonton, where Finning Canada has its head office.4 S7 Y# c2 R8 i; |
7 ]4 B F( n0 \7 l: e Q6 [+ ]( u! ~" S1 t"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.) P$ Q7 d5 G) w9 r0 R; A' i l6 b; r+ b
: ~ P# @" _6 a3 v% l0 l* gIt brings Finning Canada's workforce down to about 4,300.
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& h Q5 ~6 C# z6 \& YNo hourly workers - who service and rebuild construction and mining equipment - are affected.) k$ S5 c# |( l0 Y: R
! g. t% E0 o: e5 r u( m G$ SIn fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said.. T7 v2 e9 f- W# b5 }4 U
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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."* P; V5 m* _6 [8 c
- Y9 Y2 o7 m4 ~: l% U# w) _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."
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Hunt said Finning has been immune to recent downturns, but is now being affected by slowing sales in some areas.& j+ @2 l$ D' r
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They will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added.- K+ i& C! m" X1 U
# n$ c5 G9 k9 z# E2 SThe 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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, l; O1 q1 z' q; UDemand 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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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 $1.33 billion a year before.
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$ y/ ^3 R$ r# ]2 {% g0 NIts 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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