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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。6 U3 M4 g6 b8 f/ j& Q' `
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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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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.* `# N E1 B, Z j' t+ Y
7 A2 N T- j! K( A"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.
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No hourly workers - who service and rebuild construction and mining equipment - are affected.
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7 T# V+ i* v3 L8 w5 C' wIn fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said.1 S( a0 p6 o, F+ j
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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."
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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.0 P: T: s, y: N, ^) ~. M0 c
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"We're still very busy in the oilsands.") n; ?% W+ a% A' 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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& }2 j* G. M. G! n; x9 }; _8 K! j0 ZThey will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added.4 g+ F& G# I8 S
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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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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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9 g- p( L- v: q$ i# U( K" RDemand 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.( O# v9 T, {3 e: V- e$ D
- X; k6 _( o. R- G7 |$ K7 pFinning 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 $1.33 billion a year before.
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% Z1 o# `3 v" |) J9 c$ qIts 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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