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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。
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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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7 N. m9 G s7 h ?6 } dEvery 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.: j, S1 W& A, N0 M0 @+ I
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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.8 I& C6 A8 `" V+ l. r
, Y2 x: L s4 ~! Y4 l9 b. F$ sIt 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. [7 P- n' F6 A3 O
2 l9 w! \" \0 Y' nIn fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said.* C: O4 d( z! s% O0 {9 M/ K
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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.# ]1 }% h4 q+ F, c
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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."' `) n; O1 K; p: H( |( }
v$ p7 g9 X" c+ G( f9 LThe recent delays and cancellations of oilsands projects - a major income source for Finning - was not a factor in the layoffs, Hunt said.$ q# ?2 ]. u! Z2 B; o+ }% z
q! o; c4 F! E. O"We're still very busy in the oilsands."4 h: o3 j* f5 R# Z L& K
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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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9 x% H ]& l% \, U9 dThey will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added.
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2 K! L4 D& O. `" y. HThe employees, most of whom got the bad news Wednesday, will get severance packages and outplacement help, he said.
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/ R. t+ m4 V$ ~0 u5 R8 C& B& |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.
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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.5 M- L' B" s; l# _
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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.- J' K6 G, p" q% m* E) a- b
5 ]' i1 ?# U3 h7 TIts 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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