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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。# Y: g- A0 }' `8 y6 s5 s
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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.7 \ C! ?! |1 N9 o: R
2 q. M# z! G' ^- {& ZEvery 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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6 @5 I( o, ^2 k" u4 R, p! m* V"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.# G0 {% B# e* k( R; A
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It 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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0 S9 s1 r; k9 VIn 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.% @/ P5 n: E( X, D( M, P
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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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The recent delays and cancellations of oilsands projects - a major income source for Finning - was not a factor in the layoffs, Hunt said.
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"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.# d( m( O8 e- W% G% Z
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They will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added.0 D, h* D0 i& y# G
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The employees, most of whom got the bad news Wednesday, will get severance packages and outplacement help, he said.7 T% Q4 g! C$ j3 W
6 m0 T, F5 W) W0 Z$ J( P/ e2 A+ cMike 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.* ? Z& o0 l" M" U1 k% B- @
+ p' s% m O2 b- W) g/ A" j; SDemand 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.# _7 C- ^- r5 u: y; `
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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.+ e6 V& W/ g& q* K9 }
& E+ h( `1 S7 z; ^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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