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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.2 H% F+ ?$ e2 ?+ D8 s1 n" U! B
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Every office and every staff level, from support staff to management, in both provinces were affected, human resources vice-president Miles Hunt said Thursday." X6 j; A$ Z/ a+ N% @+ T
5 a: Q W" O6 s, u" h2 K7 {+ dTwenty-nine people lost their jobs in Edmonton, where Finning Canada has its head office.
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3 D* @- u1 y& a' |! D"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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It brings Finning Canada's workforce down to about 4,300.& Q% L# Y4 n8 ?
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No hourly workers - who service and rebuild construction and mining equipment - are affected.' o; G, S* B9 q/ E1 p4 T& ~- p
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In fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said.
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/ x/ V/ z8 K8 e- y; A' `"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.) c: f- v/ I9 k% D0 |' {
/ j0 R" s% X) Y0 m"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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, V/ v; ?; F1 i8 q: ?8 w$ X$ L: hThe 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."+ M- U: }: p# p+ Y; \+ j
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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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, Z7 k6 e8 G) Y1 Y8 p3 K& o JThey will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added.( c" x% ]& e6 Y6 n( i2 d6 D4 s3 k
5 U$ C3 M+ D; B6 EThe employees, most of whom got the bad news Wednesday, will get severance packages and outplacement help, he said., s" z* `2 D9 y4 }1 v, P
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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.
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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.* p2 A# K) d3 J8 d5 Z
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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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