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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。. U8 q% ^% p: ~8 I: r; }8 J ?
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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.3 H8 g% K/ I) a. j# P" k
' H5 V a, P! M4 R Z lEvery 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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7 r/ Y+ b4 m. t7 C* u9 l1 J/ O) sTwenty-nine people lost their jobs in Edmonton, where Finning Canada has its head office.- ]8 s/ l! I4 Q
4 g- G- S" a: y+ ~"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./ S; T* y, n6 _! V& u
" K, B$ l/ }3 k% @0 |6 ZIt brings Finning Canada's workforce down to about 4,300.
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( v u M7 N% |, h. `' q9 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.
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! U8 B0 `& q% n! q"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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"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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: G. U, J$ V) y! }4 B" b* zThe recent delays and cancellations of oilsands projects - a major income source for Finning - was not a factor in the layoffs, Hunt said.) L7 g5 U7 d$ k9 }( s9 L0 ~) [
7 z) x) z8 v( b! r* U% I"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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+ O- y) R: H' L+ R5 BThey will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added. Q4 V+ e$ \2 Q. c4 V. h0 U- t
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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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- n. E M8 e7 u: p0 RMike 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.1 o# Q, B) u3 ~' h$ X
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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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4 [( o. `( Z+ S" H0 a6 k" K2 @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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