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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。; d$ }: K9 n' D# b+ U; u
% r% e8 I, M5 s: hFinning 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.: n" M: c- J$ \+ q' l
8 N% L* J1 a( ]! p5 kTwenty-nine people lost their jobs in Edmonton, where Finning Canada has its head office. X& D5 N% u$ W! k; Z4 }
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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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It brings Finning Canada's workforce down to about 4,300." P2 U! B+ w, \" y) Q3 L2 J/ ~
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No hourly workers - who service and rebuild construction and mining equipment - are affected.
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, C' i, g9 l: _7 J+ eIn 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.1 q. e6 `& {. F% [2 {
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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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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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% n% v+ ^; ?6 _"We're still very busy in the oilsands."
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# K2 X6 K$ h! j2 f3 C6 j; KHunt 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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$ X- D6 V5 P& t3 R5 y) NThe employees, most of whom got the bad news Wednesday, will get severance packages and outplacement help, he said.- F, L( X, E# y3 ~/ S
0 G3 b; p4 |. Q/ N, d3 PMike 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.1 Z5 T4 T6 ^" A' n, w! R J
+ p! \& ?7 @# oDemand 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.4 V; C" ~7 `( n. @, p6 B$ Y3 Y
5 g+ Y; b2 P+ L; tFinning 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.2 c: F) ]5 T/ m' i- ?
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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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