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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。
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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.
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: n8 ?9 G1 o& R* i% iEvery office and every staff level, from support staff to management, in both provinces were affected, human resources vice-president Miles Hunt said Thursday. Z+ F4 z: P6 y' S: V/ n) E4 o- w+ ?
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Twenty-nine people lost their jobs in Edmonton, where Finning Canada has its head office.
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- @9 B3 [. d7 X"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.; c9 Q! [/ R% e' V7 c% @5 k }& r
+ \! c, p/ B: g' m1 ]2 h4 L$ L+ KIt 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.
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In fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said.: V5 j/ ~: j9 u7 C! x& K
$ ^0 e+ i7 M" c$ D8 H7 s"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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- C4 t: ?/ M4 {1 x. R"It's our customers who are going to get us through this, and that's the last place we want to cut."4 x! l( W0 e0 R, v! F. X' g
( [& C/ ?4 m4 s s% M, y6 f: a7 gThe recent delays and cancellations of oilsands projects - a major income source for Finning - was not a factor in the layoffs, Hunt said.; s% ?- o7 E+ F6 m4 l6 G
D5 A4 f6 i- j% z+ v"We're still very busy in the oilsands."% ^- [! i6 F: I! x" A
" D+ G5 x9 b8 S3 `1 K! Z9 M% A/ j6 XHunt said Finning has been immune to recent downturns, but is now being affected by slowing sales in some areas.( s, ?0 }+ n/ k
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They will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added.
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4 C) s# R. O0 \9 {2 RThe employees, most of whom got the bad news Wednesday, will get severance packages and outplacement help, he said.8 U: r R# f" e. ~, [
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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.* M, ]5 H. F+ ~6 _ S
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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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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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