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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。7 z/ c+ E( P7 ~( k; X5 X6 V
* V5 C- C# ?9 O: ]Finning Canada has laid off 160 salaried staff in Alberta and B.C. as sales of Caterpillar equipment slows in the economic downturn. w' n K3 U7 @& S
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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. ?) N7 S. `+ Q8 Y; A9 e
( i. T: P1 ? f' gTwenty-nine people lost their jobs in Edmonton, where Finning Canada has its head office.) k% I r9 k( o( H4 T& a
8 \2 l5 X' _' `1 M5 e"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., c4 \# |0 |- _, P' K, w! |) S7 v
( ]* I2 g/ ~( R! u8 a9 WIt brings Finning Canada's workforce down to about 4,300.3 x+ M! R. g: N5 S1 }9 N- y; @7 N
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No hourly workers - who service and rebuild construction and mining equipment - are affected.5 _( m* u( n% D4 G7 H, F
r+ F8 \ G& P% v% K7 YIn fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said.1 }6 o% [ o: O5 ]) r
3 r# |& _( U& k' D# \ A; B' u"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."" \; e' v6 t) I7 q* a6 f
2 n" T8 q: }# T9 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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"We're still very busy in the oilsands."$ H! C m8 I( L+ H
2 e) v8 m6 o' sHunt said Finning has been immune to recent downturns, but is now being affected by slowing sales in some areas. y1 L5 u9 D9 a" O i
, y3 I2 T2 d- c- V6 O/ `; dThey will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added.9 `. a- q1 H2 K% P6 a8 Y& v
a/ d6 e$ f7 N; j1 u# TThe employees, most of whom got the bad news Wednesday, will get severance packages and outplacement help, he said., y! V o7 ?. x' v' P* g8 N
6 b. O& Z9 `, G) E7 s5 ?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.3 Q" E& ~$ m4 }7 F8 g' r
( N) r7 E9 a! N5 q' m' P; HDemand 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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, l& a4 }1 _0 A( x1 sFinning 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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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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