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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。
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) W, K. }( k" D' @7 F$ F1 {. lFinning Canada has laid off 160 salaried staff in Alberta and B.C. as sales of Caterpillar equipment slows in the economic downturn.' _+ e, ?( J3 F' N1 U
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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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Q9 D9 W6 {. ~& C# Q4 b& hTwenty-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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& J- ?' c5 G1 A/ X. {/ ]It brings Finning Canada's workforce down to about 4,300.
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# x. M* \/ d6 N! lNo hourly workers - who service and rebuild construction and mining equipment - are affected.% ?: ]$ R& W6 g: {; A3 O( c
9 O- h% E+ u: r: gIn 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.2 e2 D% z6 l( C/ h" N) r9 b
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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." \' D% e8 h8 A4 v
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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.0 ~3 \- |; V1 n/ |! y9 [
6 T* @) @, p, ?3 p- Z( A3 z"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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G, c8 U9 H; N0 _* `: gThey will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added.
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* d' m6 N% `) s1 C% VThe employees, most of whom got the bad news Wednesday, will get severance packages and outplacement help, he said.
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( ~& U2 r# o SMike 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.6 z( b4 i/ B6 v* ~ D7 y# e2 I
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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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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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