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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。
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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.: M: L) E& o+ n( }. Y9 @6 r! N
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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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, b" ~7 N3 p& x$ W% C. ^5 b1 mTwenty-nine people lost their jobs in Edmonton, where Finning Canada has its head office.' b) N6 ~" z, y; H9 t
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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., n+ [. e6 C8 Z
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No hourly workers - who service and rebuild construction and mining equipment - are affected.1 D: c, N8 V5 S4 u2 d. `/ \; n
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In fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said.
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6 d3 N- J5 [( l3 y2 U* i"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.) B1 E: Y6 X T1 M& v5 ]; W
6 n9 g8 \, }5 W& \% C- B# A( q4 _"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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+ D" i* e* M* G# O2 iThe 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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) c, b" }- k5 I9 H"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.
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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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The employees, most of whom got the bad news Wednesday, will get severance packages and outplacement help, he said.2 n8 A7 M: z6 m0 c3 d1 ]
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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.6 M* v& b, `$ J# i7 F* x" b
6 N9 P: }3 d. E0 v* y/ sDemand 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.) S% [. }% L, s( `+ T8 q
4 c0 ^1 U& D' j: @, p1 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 $1.33 billion a year before.
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$ O6 t; h: I5 d j3 N8 ?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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