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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。$ ^& |2 a3 u8 f) z) S5 W
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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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# I- u) h1 }( Z9 K" R4 yEvery 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.1 I7 x* R( k! f+ L
5 q- V1 x4 w# c+ M5 n4 G"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. b7 a% J ]" \" \! q& m
X# {3 V. o' e( H, 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.
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In fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said.4 S) \$ t& W/ o
9 Z9 w6 n9 G, d"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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& o/ |- e. s3 q; Q# k ?"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.+ h0 O$ m( o$ G* q7 M0 _
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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.! r O( L% E) u' O6 f4 D- \1 F
8 R# S0 O5 o5 w9 m' fThey will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added.
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* r, {' P0 b6 RThe employees, most of whom got the bad news Wednesday, will get severance packages and outplacement help, he said.9 x' D8 b. @; T- v w6 t: F. Y
& l6 J4 F& e9 K1 _1 MMike 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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* a3 U) m6 r0 e V1 @1 iDemand 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.1 W" E0 ~/ L4 ~% s% @) K& a" `
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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 $1.33 billion a year before.9 C1 T z$ Z U( l1 I, r: U5 ]
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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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