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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。
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( V6 u/ w3 Y V J* k8 YFinning 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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! r; A/ k$ H d HEvery office and every staff level, from support staff to management, in both provinces were affected, human resources vice-president Miles Hunt said Thursday./ J2 t: i7 o! Z5 |- T. x$ c1 @
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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.( q# W1 a! Q0 Q. q1 Z B
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It brings Finning Canada's workforce down to about 4,300.3 `$ U0 n; \- ^- t. o, }7 [; J
; P1 h# c$ m& jNo hourly workers - who service and rebuild construction and mining equipment - are affected.% n8 e+ Q! y) l V3 r0 y: l
, u7 j V/ b' K6 z4 }3 n' O2 UIn fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said.. ]1 r# i2 G" a# `1 e H
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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."! ~! C) l) x( j7 S: z7 G
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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.
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* ?9 t, x8 L l+ y' }9 C"We're still very busy in the oilsands."3 |3 Z; f; M1 j' A
0 ?/ |) K6 x& T0 l1 jHunt said Finning has been immune to recent downturns, but is now being affected by slowing sales in some areas.
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% _1 c4 o# B, J3 h8 e" UThey will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added.
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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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# W+ a/ T3 ]: h( v- y* C( b3 nMike 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.- S. Z {5 Y( l) m8 x; {3 }0 M( ]
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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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