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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。0 Y6 ~4 B7 h: `: Q, P, C
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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.1 {8 l# B( D2 L# w
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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.* ~( d" P1 N& {# ?( W+ {9 t2 k
8 P4 Q) D2 U8 @$ f' q$ \Twenty-nine people lost their jobs in Edmonton, where Finning Canada has its head office.
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( z* Q! T! U1 T, I4 t2 E! u1 g"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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: u0 L, D: n3 e' a# M/ Z5 |6 J# kIt brings Finning Canada's workforce down to about 4,300.. \8 q& m+ _% j, U8 x) p
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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.* P" n4 ? n* E! O5 _+ n( {
: f) G1 m r9 c- M4 Z& 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.
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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."" ] z0 g( z$ Q$ D
9 k: r: _; H! u5 k, F% X6 F7 {The recent delays and cancellations of oilsands projects - a major income source for Finning - was not a factor in the layoffs, Hunt said.. y# E( y: O% d0 ~, u
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"We're still very busy in the oilsands."1 ~1 C+ X- m) W3 ~2 d0 _# _ T
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Hunt said Finning has been immune to recent downturns, but is now being affected by slowing sales in some areas.( ~7 S. {8 Z7 V1 _
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They will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added.2 s# W) E6 @" T3 T
# @& m' R; N. Z' vThe 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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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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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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; ]: b7 S( n/ z+ G. J8 AIts 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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