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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。; `9 f+ d! d; \/ |4 \8 a; I* R7 z
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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.. n( d5 J: a3 N X% [
5 T- w) g* S6 ~/ D. ]9 B6 ]" B ~ w7 KEvery office and every staff level, from support staff to management, in both provinces were affected, human resources vice-president Miles Hunt said Thursday.. y" _: A2 @4 |6 m
% P7 ?9 Y3 X1 \0 ^! E7 E! I OTwenty-nine people lost their jobs in Edmonton, where Finning Canada has its head office.5 f+ Z1 k! w8 X5 C
4 i% F k, z q T! Z" W) ?"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.
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No hourly workers - who service and rebuild construction and mining equipment - are affected.( g, n# X+ X( _1 v% A4 p
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In fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said.8 s8 z) u# A9 X3 h! Q' G
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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.2 ?, T1 c5 Q$ y1 f& ?+ {
# v H5 {5 s2 G+ C6 c6 |- ~+ U) M"It's our customers who are going to get us through this, and that's the last place we want to cut."6 G5 |' t; U' R
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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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( q; W( @( I, q# x/ f- _. b& f7 r"We're still very busy in the oilsands."# \' k/ p# P4 j( u/ K
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Hunt said Finning has been immune to recent downturns, but is now being affected by slowing sales in some areas.( a. U, \( \8 G/ \+ s$ j
3 p; H' r v, n! B3 c0 U4 n) Y" kThey 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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# y3 w2 y7 Z2 ^7 sMike 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.8 o, q2 C2 c9 g
. w4 C0 m/ u8 u) p8 q: kDemand 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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/ h% M( ?7 X& O3 t: f. zIts 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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