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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。0 H) U9 i' \. T; z* l6 ? \
5 P, S# t& F: L& {$ \) i3 mFinning 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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Every office and every staff level, from support staff to management, in both provinces were affected, human resources vice-president Miles Hunt said Thursday.3 I; l. A+ ?1 p7 D$ s f e
$ ?3 a) G1 F4 r+ P0 d! |Twenty-nine people lost their jobs in Edmonton, where Finning Canada has its head office.4 Q* Q! H! [4 Y
) x$ \: ]/ d9 L' j5 C# I Q, i"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.) y; P! D' z$ T- D( A
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It brings Finning Canada's workforce down to about 4,300.6 [2 W! u5 m" G/ C4 y% D y1 U0 _, h
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No hourly workers - who service and rebuild construction and mining equipment - are affected.( K: h8 q" O& e1 |% _# C; D
% G9 z# c' C7 j1 x3 |5 GIn fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said.* H' d6 X% f' v/ @
1 e3 B5 \2 U; b* B( ^6 {' ["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.& s( a( X; |1 }$ m8 x4 A" j0 {* n: L; A
3 Y7 P" @& X3 m. s% U5 ~"It's our customers who are going to get us through this, and that's the last place we want to cut."$ l' b! T! |: N$ 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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"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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2 P0 y! @ D5 W6 {They will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added.
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, N5 D, A* V+ E2 o0 JThe employees, most of whom got the bad news Wednesday, will get severance packages and outplacement help, he said.
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8 ~- E, E: d2 z( z: J& r" `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.. R' J6 F# G! H% M8 _
* E1 g: D$ J$ KFinning 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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