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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。
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) Z' Q- q0 F' R, j V& JFinning 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.' E# J# y( \! P/ |+ _; X. ^) V9 P
. x* c. C, O: mTwenty-nine people lost their jobs in Edmonton, where Finning Canada has its head office.
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: C3 a( W; S, M a) S! N8 Z2 k"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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. s& y9 W. L/ F& H: V e+ tIt brings Finning Canada's workforce down to about 4,300.
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! e1 I' M: x6 d7 v, |; g) ]3 L" _No hourly workers - who service and rebuild construction and mining equipment - are affected.$ R9 g3 G/ ^( t6 A( J& N
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In 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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0 N, O/ v4 _# @4 V% g2 c4 U: D"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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- T7 F& g: @. I# O( V+ q7 D, ^) ]The recent delays and cancellations of oilsands projects - a major income source for Finning - was not a factor in the layoffs, Hunt said.0 m0 u: S, ^" Y* ^+ m
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"We're still very busy in the oilsands."! \$ h9 e6 f, d3 ]% k( C# B$ ^: Z
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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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7 s& u# z" Y' K E) UThey will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added.
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2 h: T1 S- B5 aThe employees, most of whom got the bad news Wednesday, will get severance packages and outplacement help, he said.
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/ Q0 M' u3 g7 G4 OMike 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.5 \* T! {" v% r
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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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! t. ?5 y5 }" T' BFinning 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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" b: o4 C' f. m) M( \$ Y7 JIts 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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