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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。+ d! Z$ _$ a6 y! N* ^
( v! u" g- D) x/ H; jFinning Canada has laid off 160 salaried staff in Alberta and B.C. as sales of Caterpillar equipment slows in the economic downturn.0 b8 Q7 W' u; W# j
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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.6 @% C- O+ m5 F$ B3 B* H! ^
& Z' X; v0 n$ g/ V0 p7 g2 l9 aTwenty-nine people lost their jobs in Edmonton, where Finning Canada has its head office.
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! }1 S) _+ ?3 S. l"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.: E9 f) k9 o3 \* b. `$ D; s& d
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It brings Finning Canada's workforce down to about 4,300.0 I4 X' m/ S. r1 `$ U
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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.
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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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- ^8 H3 ?8 O5 K! d* W4 ~( AThe recent delays and cancellations of oilsands projects - a major income source for Finning - was not a factor in the layoffs, Hunt said.9 l+ ^; D1 x9 A* ?" o2 g
2 q9 ]+ k n2 R"We're still very busy in the oilsands."
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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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They will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added.6 \1 |" M3 G, I- w% M
6 i0 \/ X* Q4 p- ]The employees, most of whom got the bad news Wednesday, will get severance packages and outplacement help, he said.7 y. @2 E; n* P# @/ f
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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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# }7 x* s, X, @+ [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.4 t4 T- b- N2 W7 j
* q J8 X$ v1 @# e' KFinning 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 $1.33 billion a year before.9 _5 I# h$ y# f6 S, j
( W% X# G2 U d) B& G% ]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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