 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。5 P" a: D4 q6 D8 _! E
, M, x6 G% ~+ Z" C- L+ ^
Finning Canada has laid off 160 salaried staff in Alberta and B.C. as sales of Caterpillar equipment slows in the economic downturn.; _+ X3 b: A+ |+ o" Z
: y n, N! s3 h) J ~
Every office and every staff level, from support staff to management, in both provinces were affected, human resources vice-president Miles Hunt said Thursday.5 J, e( O2 W; W, h7 B2 \
4 d( O7 V' \+ E }Twenty-nine people lost their jobs in Edmonton, where Finning Canada has its head office.
1 }- j% ?+ N9 U. O4 J7 Y1 H$ |7 b$ C' }$ T0 d' q" ~8 R
"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.4 W- | h. \' A" G8 G0 T
1 L) z O* g! _# D" ] H+ |; f5 DIt brings Finning Canada's workforce down to about 4,300.
. N) ~ @8 X+ C- O5 |/ S8 v. d2 v" l) u2 z" S7 P; O
No hourly workers - who service and rebuild construction and mining equipment - are affected.
* u) F- I( j0 P2 _# y1 a
5 M# O: J4 D# R* u2 E; w" yIn fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said.. E) x y* D* L5 h
4 m3 I$ J( B+ g; g) ?"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.% T1 D' T- _" h- p/ l6 m
. ~9 R; z9 u5 W# R s; D* P- @"It's our customers who are going to get us through this, and that's the last place we want to cut."0 Z2 B: }& v- q- r8 F7 H: \$ e) F
9 [4 G8 Y# L5 ^, u" ?7 o \
The recent delays and cancellations of oilsands projects - a major income source for Finning - was not a factor in the layoffs, Hunt said.( Q. T/ q% c* B9 g, F! w
/ X8 P0 c+ l; F w- C# E! G9 _3 U"We're still very busy in the oilsands."( s: i# I( J( ~$ l
y8 T9 j6 t6 Z1 {Hunt said Finning has been immune to recent downturns, but is now being affected by slowing sales in some areas.
- Y+ Q( H/ m( H5 u
$ I0 J! `: h2 N# F- w8 kThey will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added.
! b4 H8 ~" o& z/ l
, @7 K+ {& _4 @7 W: bThe employees, most of whom got the bad news Wednesday, will get severance packages and outplacement help, he said.
6 y7 C- A. B4 j8 _1 ~
`/ G4 ^9 W, U& d, `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.' B+ N( k- R! ?8 c$ f( k* M
0 G) ~% F; @4 _1 W+ fDemand 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.7 x' h6 g+ z' V( h( [% @7 d
1 V' U5 X7 X/ ^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.
$ M+ T) f+ g0 G+ C( e4 R) u/ W a R* S& ?' J) i4 C; j! ^. j( i
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. |
|