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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。
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: {) p6 q h0 ?9 J: D0 rFinning 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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. P! \7 x; V& `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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Twenty-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.8 M2 E; d& ^! }
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It brings Finning Canada's workforce down to about 4,300.
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; o# g0 ]5 y0 P( [( b* Y4 g3 z, dNo hourly workers - who service and rebuild construction and mining equipment - are affected.1 e" ]. W+ M" f' d
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In fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said.' V5 u% f6 W' ?
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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.
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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."+ N8 @# X) U2 _! o5 N; O
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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.! S: p+ k6 A" B* x. W, N
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"We're still very busy in the oilsands."
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7 y8 P" r9 f6 k: |. JHunt said Finning has been immune to recent downturns, but is now being affected by slowing sales in some areas.. \0 M) c+ P9 ?: v2 A. L4 g1 J
) a. @+ k5 n; s- m* H6 }They will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added.
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( D; @3 b( h8 @3 D* JThe employees, most of whom got the bad news Wednesday, will get severance packages and outplacement help, he said.& j {' |' B/ l7 p8 }. D# B
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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.+ r" b* C) a4 E7 X/ Y
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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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