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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。- t, A! X0 s% I" B9 J" {- a9 G
/ z, \4 ~9 l7 h8 A7 i+ S/ dFinning Canada has laid off 160 salaried staff in Alberta and B.C. as sales of Caterpillar equipment slows in the economic downturn./ J( h8 M4 {- Y5 g/ {7 _8 W+ C
8 r! J5 n7 [, c, X) |1 u3 WEvery office and every staff level, from support staff to management, in both provinces were affected, human resources vice-president Miles Hunt said Thursday./ Z' `9 [0 a* T" V. }$ V- t( \
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Twenty-nine people lost their jobs in Edmonton, where Finning Canada has its head office.2 q5 `( L0 \4 b: Z+ w
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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.
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8 S: H0 L, t( N( K6 h5 KNo hourly workers - who service and rebuild construction and mining equipment - are affected.
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9 j8 N9 U% n. S# o( U7 |* P& {7 K4 rIn 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."
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! H% u/ B V4 e JThe 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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- h1 Y/ e: ]+ j3 C0 S"We're still very busy in the oilsands."
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1 |. m* V; ]. B7 N& s+ WHunt said Finning has been immune to recent downturns, but is now being affected by slowing sales in some areas.( X& s: d! j% a5 ]9 t* |# i. A
5 s. R; H( V9 i7 b* K9 i5 ^They will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added.0 F; O# O5 L% X! D4 k' H
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The employees, most of whom got the bad news Wednesday, will get severance packages and outplacement help, he said.+ B' j$ P1 S% u. b- e1 T
) h3 n0 g7 E {7 O aMike 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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Demand 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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. r) X% a3 x/ ~+ 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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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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