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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。) h, Q6 {5 U3 t
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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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}% o: k# L' 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.6 m& X4 L" Q# t! z! y2 w
7 _% k4 u4 q5 E% d$ z"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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X, M9 u9 p x) s3 jIt brings Finning Canada's workforce down to about 4,300.
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9 }/ ~$ B" N, J; W( s! v9 rNo hourly workers - who service and rebuild construction and mining equipment - are affected.( \0 `' j1 C7 n% G; E8 X3 P N
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In fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said.8 z3 B m% c- l5 A. |
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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. X# D4 [1 g9 Q- V }5 ~/ h6 t: E
0 [7 L' _. ~6 w* b5 |$ C* i% W"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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5 E0 \: O L3 Q7 P9 F* B: w, eThe recent delays and cancellations of oilsands projects - a major income source for Finning - was not a factor in the layoffs, Hunt said.- f$ G6 m# o! L
% f$ n( B' b- @& i4 G"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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* F J* a8 v, K- J& D" tThey will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added.
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' m+ b: z: ]( r7 r" Q q zThe employees, most of whom got the bad news Wednesday, will get severance packages and outplacement help, he said.0 q% s' B, q, U9 Z
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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., p {" n% S# f1 X0 }! O2 f. j8 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.( I+ V6 k; ]+ |. v- `# f) h4 N
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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.+ S" O" F# h/ F" U" E/ B3 E
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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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