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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。3 }: o. i: H( }3 B4 B/ D" o
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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.- L1 o9 x' b5 @4 g; s
" V. Q( C" }% R6 I( T. c6 I7 z/ zEvery 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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Twenty-nine people lost their jobs in Edmonton, where Finning Canada has its head office." N5 H% j" k8 H' |! k, n5 p
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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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) u% I! m& |& [( R/ p$ k1 q: ZIt brings Finning Canada's workforce down to about 4,300.
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No hourly workers - who service and rebuild construction and mining equipment - are affected.0 K+ O, Y3 R2 h5 F; ~2 u. T
+ ?2 t6 U( D PIn fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said.# J$ J, z' M+ @ G( b. b( o: C& {
# `- Q7 c6 Y+ z2 p7 l6 P( _6 B( b"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.7 k7 ~8 A, r; w1 w; f
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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."
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7 I- u4 m# ]- |4 x' fThe recent delays and cancellations of oilsands projects - a major income source for Finning - was not a factor in the layoffs, Hunt said.! i0 } ~- P' u' z4 Q& P
: m. c( ]8 M8 s. _( H"We're still very busy in the oilsands."4 v, I" K( }' I) @' D. |! e
( e8 U4 p$ R K( sHunt 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.
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/ h) K+ o0 s, J+ f4 w6 VMike 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.' p4 I4 x7 P/ X
+ d% \ Z9 w& |) d1 \; [* {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.
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0 S( O( y9 j2 l5 EFinning 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.# W! o- {! l& K* Y0 y2 n
6 P: b; [1 p* R; I+ _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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