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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。( B! ?+ K0 O R0 D
7 p6 n: N0 K. K) f/ d9 WFinning 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.
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Twenty-nine people lost their jobs in Edmonton, where Finning Canada has its head office.
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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.% r( B# O- r' z( X/ S* Y% w
7 a) H; C& W x# D3 [0 v, Y" ]3 E# MIt 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.
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6 H2 ^9 o6 z% |" \% e, a"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 v( |* a* P8 x% U8 m1 G) ?
% o" o X3 q7 e. _ u"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.- g, Z' X' v, S
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"We're still very busy in the oilsands."" [! U# H2 _! `* f0 S6 s
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Hunt said Finning has been immune to recent downturns, but is now being affected by slowing sales in some areas.2 n' a7 C- a: G0 i/ j/ C
$ q% n; Q8 D( e5 ^2 sThey will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added.4 ^) c: W$ O! t- k. p2 ]
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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.
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+ d, O% c" ]8 R$ 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.
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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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) r/ M; D. g2 t, }9 k9 N' R2 f3 }8 n' LIts 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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