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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。# A$ [) b7 _2 Y( ^% U* p: |6 D
7 a1 y+ Z! `' u ]8 a5 P( L9 |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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Every office and every staff level, from support staff to management, in both provinces were affected, human resources vice-president Miles Hunt said Thursday.
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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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* v. w1 N$ h+ ~& L+ i$ g( qIt brings Finning Canada's workforce down to about 4,300.) K$ _7 F8 J/ k/ N* Y5 @
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No hourly workers - who service and rebuild construction and mining equipment - are affected., F# `; n" C% ^/ K" |! Q
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In fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said.
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0 C n0 @! O, Q, h"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.! |$ k' a7 o/ d" @/ G
$ Z0 ]1 O% L; L# @* ["It's our customers who are going to get us through this, and that's the last place we want to cut.". W5 J+ q. t8 o
- N6 N. t, \* o. i9 L2 ]The recent delays and cancellations of oilsands projects - a major income source for Finning - was not a factor in the layoffs, Hunt said.+ J; u o9 O6 G5 I/ {% x
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"We're still very busy in the oilsands."4 S/ p' g+ K# ^! X
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Hunt said Finning has been immune to recent downturns, but is now being affected by slowing sales in some areas.* D$ c8 M4 b. b5 d
4 C) u+ w4 R4 F, l/ fThey will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added." k- R: b! G8 V$ p4 `1 ]
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The employees, most of whom got the bad news Wednesday, will get severance packages and outplacement help, he said.
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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.4 `+ n0 h% y. I3 F9 w$ p
$ B1 R4 j4 b/ S$ uDemand 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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0 c8 ]: {4 C' B2 oFinning 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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0 F" v- x& Z! I1 i0 e8 rIts 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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