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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。8 L% e, b4 e. Y
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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.; h0 k7 N% r8 |9 p
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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.: @' d2 F% Z" k5 L
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Twenty-nine people lost their jobs in Edmonton, where Finning Canada has its head office.( B j. ~4 M- u* M8 @9 C+ |/ _
4 l9 I& w8 I; b7 L1 Z"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., V, T: ]- r" `( q3 E
|2 C. \' m# FIt brings Finning Canada's workforce down to about 4,300.
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4 j% I- [9 B/ ^( X& {0 N- r& A, oNo hourly workers - who service and rebuild construction and mining equipment - are affected.% `5 ?: c2 C. C' l* q
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In 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.
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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."2 i4 I; R' H2 i" O3 ~& m$ B
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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.+ s3 g& L/ k& V, X' P) z% I
5 l" T" L+ c- Z% J2 o: x"We're still very busy in the oilsands."8 v9 `" ?& h" j+ R! N5 Z# l
+ K2 Q, p( C; u3 Z, _Hunt said Finning has been immune to recent downturns, but is now being affected by slowing sales in some areas.
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% p5 v0 J$ G9 r" V0 U% KThey will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added.( ^/ A8 m) O0 v( [
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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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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.- T9 I; f2 Z, q5 W0 e+ b: B6 }
* Z) q1 G6 U. C9 wDemand 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.: q- o9 E1 J2 D: t3 a
. I: v9 b! m% e% [( I& t4 E; r. |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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) p& T+ U& w, {) E GIts 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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