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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。9 c" o& t! {% C. M4 v
& Z6 I+ ? r3 }0 Z, h5 `Finning 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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, l; [* f$ w) gEvery office and every staff level, from support staff to management, in both provinces were affected, human resources vice-president Miles Hunt said Thursday., x1 o3 k" T9 F; l2 h0 P
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Twenty-nine people lost their jobs in Edmonton, where Finning Canada has its head office.
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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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No hourly workers - who service and rebuild construction and mining equipment - are affected.9 b7 m1 O9 Z) u& C- p; D
- f6 K, e/ G" r- GIn fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said.8 D3 Y# i4 @6 c
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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.& v5 i* J; v" Q: o0 ?
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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."$ R4 F% \# [4 P+ }$ N5 ~
, L* ~) L. t" u, L7 A- 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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( f; I3 p+ O' S: ?0 F: j. R8 d"We're still very busy in the oilsands."/ q f: P- e4 d( X/ X
% J- ~* ?# A; k1 A1 H: i$ a) }Hunt said Finning has been immune to recent downturns, but is now being affected by slowing sales in some areas.8 i% P5 `4 I& T* `6 i; }
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They will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added./ M4 h; ?# B# |+ b) V
6 L4 h+ c5 ~* a- AThe employees, most of whom got the bad news Wednesday, will get severance packages and outplacement help, he said.3 l1 I6 C0 u- d. @, F
' h9 d* a4 N, v4 \( F% 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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: e2 ~4 K* h1 Z" H/ B, _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 $1.33 billion a year before.
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! f/ y& a/ X+ B0 r2 [! o$ Z% eIts 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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