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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.* H$ j4 l8 {! P+ u4 h) v9 d- ]
$ R7 T1 b& V$ eEvery office and every staff level, from support staff to management, in both provinces were affected, human resources vice-president Miles Hunt said Thursday.3 t @6 T& W" R: e" p) {. I. X K
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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.
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It brings Finning Canada's workforce down to about 4,300.! w6 e6 J: q; Q4 J# W8 y
7 J0 W/ m+ K5 a* N' ~No hourly workers - who service and rebuild construction and mining equipment - are affected.
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In fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said.
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# P- I: P5 v( I) o: Y+ m: m$ P"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.; V$ `8 a! V" ]& k: ~2 z
]3 E! N2 L8 Q0 u"It's our customers who are going to get us through this, and that's the last place we want to cut."; [$ s1 Z5 I3 D! s
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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.3 T5 d" ?3 A/ S; [3 S8 x( q2 v
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"We're still very busy in the oilsands.") q0 f+ l% @8 T/ U, H; G
1 ~/ d& {8 ^, j# p. EHunt said Finning has been immune to recent downturns, but is now being affected by slowing sales in some areas.1 w( K0 X' R0 |: R: `" t2 J: u$ j9 D
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They will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added.
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+ Z6 i1 o6 G; N5 z9 s, c+ r" C3 zThe 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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8 D) m9 G7 n$ k, ^6 WDemand 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.0 ]! g8 h5 h0 L2 T- u4 D9 i- h5 \
- f w% t7 v$ Y4 W8 z, L D4 i) F4 wFinning 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.' C5 l- c1 I& O* @ I
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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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