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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。 s' u6 P$ c# r
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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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" K3 c" B, \6 iEvery office and every staff level, from support staff to management, in both provinces were affected, human resources vice-president Miles Hunt said Thursday.) W3 [% ]8 A0 k6 t
4 B g8 w; M: i, Q: RTwenty-nine people lost their jobs in Edmonton, where Finning Canada has its head office.6 ?2 c2 R) L7 {$ W9 Q
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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.& t# ^: |4 G/ B
1 f$ k5 J! g' ~. nIt brings Finning Canada's workforce down to about 4,300.
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$ _# K5 O, j( vNo 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.. [2 k# ?; p$ Y% B
' e0 V, |7 t8 J' W& ]: ?"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.$ S! ~, a G1 t9 K! J( a9 t2 I
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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.": a* B0 Q6 |2 h
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The recent delays and cancellations of oilsands projects - a major income source for Finning - was not a factor in the layoffs, Hunt said.: A2 f0 L8 c- _. D5 {( T
- `7 J# ]& a+ v0 @! \4 ~4 ^"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.: Y" a$ e1 h+ L; j
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They will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added. b# s+ d* `8 ~* Z
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The employees, most of whom got the bad news Wednesday, will get severance packages and outplacement help, he said.3 e* h' M5 Z' t# R* m& [
* y% o6 @0 W3 I7 w2 [3 LMike 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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! r1 W" `# c7 \" k/ G1 dDemand 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.& y8 X" \, _. H( m& c, Q
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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 $1.33 billion a year before.
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% V [6 F3 [1 K& ~% a$ j5 _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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