Chesapeake Business Practices

[Richard at Remax]

I wouldn't be surprised if they have a barbershop quartet that goes around and boosts morale

[Just the facts]

OK I have to ask. Chesapeake really employed a beekeeper? Seriously?

Why does that surprise you? They have an extensive garden spread across a large land area and the plants don't pollinate themselves (well, some do but it isn't good for the plant). I guess now they will probably outsource the work to a local beekeeper business (maybe even the same guy but who will now be a contractor making 2X as much).

[Pete]

OK I have to ask. Chesapeake really employed a beekeeper? Seriously?

Yes.

I found reference to that position in an article about Aubrey a few years ago, where there was the inevitable discussion about their elaborate campus and landscaping.


The new CEO certainly has plenty of low-hanging fruit to harvest in his mission to cut and control spending.

[Just the facts]

The new CEO certainly has plenty of low-hanging fruit to harvest in his mission to cut and control spending.

He can cut the job, but he can't cut the work. The bees still need to perform their function unless he plans to also get rid of the landscaping. Someone has to care after the bees.

Didn't Chesapeake also have a large greenhouse and community garden?

[Libbymin]

Why does that surprise you? They have an extensive garden spread across a large land area and the plants don't pollinate themselves (well, some do but it isn't good for the plant). I guess now they will probably outsource the work to a local beekeeper business (maybe even the same guy but who will now be a contractor making 2X as much).

Uhh it surprises me because they're a company looking to cut a major portion of their workforce and they had cut upper level executives and then over a dozen VP positions beforethey let a beekeeper go. Now I think having a beekeeper would be kinda cool actually, but it's not exactly essential to an oil and gas company.

[Pete]

There is a wide range of efficiency in which any work can be performed.

It has been noted that CHK has nearly twice as many employees as Devon, although the latter has a much high market capitalization.

Their new chairman has stated he wanted to get the CHK numbers much more in line with industry best practices.

[Just the facts]

Uhh it surprises me because they're a company looking to cut a major portion of their workforce and they had cut upper level executives and then over a dozen VP positions beforethey let a beekeeper go. Now I think having a beekeeper would be kinda cool actually, but it's not exactly essential to an oil and gas company.

Okay, I see what you mean. Usually the cuts work their way down from the top. I used to work for international container shipping company and we had 24 broccoli pickers in a field in Mexico. We didn't even know we had these employees until we were implanting a new HR system. What was really funny (sad) is that when we started we thought we had 2500 employees but by the time we got done putting everyone in the new system we had 4500 employees, so what didn't management do - they started laying people off to get to the 2500 level we though we had. We were out of business 36 months later.

Also, maybe this beekeeper's name was Clarence Beeks.

[Plutonic Panda]

Why does that surprise you? They have an extensive garden spread across a large land area and the plants don't pollinate themselves (well, some do but it isn't good for the plant). I guess now they will probably outsource the work to a local beekeeper business (maybe even the same guy but who will now be a contractor making 2X as much).

How is that?

[Just the facts]

How is that?

How is what? How do they self pollinate or why is it not good for them?

Self-pollination - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Pete]

Let's please not turn this into a thread about bees and plant pollination.

Thanks.

[bchris02]

According to CNBC, they are letting 2,000 people go. This may be quite a blow.

[Pete]

This is from CNBC.

However, the 2,000 number is probably out f 12,000 overall employees. Only 5,000 work in OKC:



Layoffs at Chesapeake Energy rattle employees

The Oklahoma City television station K-FOR-TV reports that sources say as many as 2,000 jobs may be cut. Chesapeake has about 12,000 employees.

This week's layoffs occurred in the creative department and corporate development, according to a person at the company who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The person also said that there were layoffs in the government relations department two weeks ago.

Lawler's email hinted that there may be more layoffs to come.
"Additional organizational changes are anticipated in the coming weeks. During this time, it is imperative that each of us maintain our focus on safety and execute our day-to-day duties in an operationally prudent manner. We thank you for your patience and dedication as we work together to transform our company," Lawler wrote.

Chesapeake shares are up by more than 61 percent year-to-date.

Employees have been rattled by the layoffs.

"Morale is low and as a result productivity is low," one person at the company said. "A lot of people wish they would just rip off the band aid."

Perks at the company are being cut back. The community garden has been shut down—and the gardeners have been let go. The monthly concerts on the company campus are no longer happening. The annual Halloween party, which was a fundraiser for United Way, is also rumored to be cancelled, according to a person at the company.

[warreng88]

Perks at the company are being cut back. The community garden has been shut down—and the gardeners have been let go. The monthly concerts on the company campus are no longer happening. The annual Halloween party, which was a fundraiser for United Way, is also rumored to be cancelled, according to a person at the company.

None of this surprises me at all. I am curious if they will shut down any of the restaurants or start charging more for the food. I heard they operated at a 50% loss.

[zookeeper]

This is from CNBC.

However, the 2,000 number is probably out f 12,000 overall employees. Only 5,000 work in OKC:



Layoffs at Chesapeake Energy rattle employees

The Oklahoma City television station K-FOR-TV reports that sources say as many as 2,000 jobs may be cut. Chesapeake has about 12,000 employees.

This week's layoffs occurred in the creative department and corporate development, according to a person at the company who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The person also said that there were layoffs in the government relations department two weeks ago.

Lawler's email hinted that there may be more layoffs to come.
"Additional organizational changes are anticipated in the coming weeks. During this time, it is imperative that each of us maintain our focus on safety and execute our day-to-day duties in an operationally prudent manner. We thank you for your patience and dedication as we work together to transform our company," Lawler wrote.

Chesapeake shares are up by more than 61 percent year-to-date.

Employees have been rattled by the layoffs.

"Morale is low and as a result productivity is low," one person at the company said. "A lot of people wish they would just rip off the band aid."

Perks at the company are being cut back. The community garden has been shut down—and the gardeners have been let go. The monthly concerts on the company campus are no longer happening. The annual Halloween party, which was a fundraiser for United Way, is also rumored to be cancelled, according to a person at the company.

Good point, but I wouldn't be surprised if the headquarters doesn't take the brunt of the layoffs. It's a damned if you do, damned if you don't thing for OKC. We don't need the layoffs, but we also need a healthy Chesapeake.

[Pete]

They just opened the expansive Skyline restaurant, with multiple different concepts on the very top of Building #14.

I know they only let employees eat at all their restaurants and heavily discount the prices.

Seems like an easy solution would be to charge full price and make them open to everyone, like Devon does with their restaurants. The perk of having good, easily-accessible dining options is plenty good enough.


The CHK stock is up 61% since the first of the year and they are just now really starting to get costs under control, so you would expect further improvement.

It stinks for the people losing their jobs but it sounds like OKC will still have about 4,000 well-paid employees when the dust settles and that their future employment will be much more secure.

[adaniel]

At the risk of sounding cold, I can't see how anyone there didn't see this coming.

My small company has been bombarded by resumes from Chesapeake land staff for about a year now. Unfortunately none of them know anything about BLM/Indian stuff, so they really can't help me.

[Pete]

I think they all saw it coming but many were willing to hang on because they have better pay and perks than they could find elsewhere.


I wonder if salary adjustments might be coming as well. At the very least, raises and bonuses may be curtailed until they bring people more in line with the market.

[PWitty]

This is from CNBC.

However, the 2,000 number is probably out f 12,000 overall employees. Only 5,000 work in OKC:



Layoffs at Chesapeake Energy rattle employees

The Oklahoma City television station K-FOR-TV reports that sources say as many as 2,000 jobs may be cut. Chesapeake has about 12,000 employees.

This week's layoffs occurred in the creative department and corporate development, according to a person at the company who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The person also said that there were layoffs in the government relations department two weeks ago.

Lawler's email hinted that there may be more layoffs to come.
"Additional organizational changes are anticipated in the coming weeks. During this time, it is imperative that each of us maintain our focus on safety and execute our day-to-day duties in an operationally prudent manner. We thank you for your patience and dedication as we work together to transform our company," Lawler wrote.

Chesapeake shares are up by more than 61 percent year-to-date.

Employees have been rattled by the layoffs.

"Morale is low and as a result productivity is low," one person at the company said. "A lot of people wish they would just rip off the band aid."

Perks at the company are being cut back. The community garden has been shut down—and the gardeners have been let go. The monthly concerts on the company campus are no longer happening. The annual Halloween party, which was a fundraiser for United Way, is also rumored to be cancelled, according to a person at the company.

Taking away some of those perks, like the summer concerts and Halloween party, just doesn't make sense to me. I don't see how the costs that are saved from cancelling events like those can make any real impact to overall spending for a company that spends almost $8 billion a year. And events like those are what gave CHK a fun and welcoming culture that made so many people, especially college graduates from out of state, want to work there. I'm curious to see how many people will leave voluntarily, after all the organizational changes have been made, if there is any more significant changes in the perks and benefits. I know that if there was much of a change at all to the 401k that A LOT of those same people from out of state would start prepping their resumes and be ready to move.

[Richard at Remax]

I wonder if they are going to part ways with some of the thunder tickets they have

[Libbymin]

I think they all saw it coming but many were willing to hang on because they have better pay and perks than they could find elsewhere.


I wonder if salary adjustments might be coming as well. At the very least, raises and bonuses may be curtailed until they bring people more in line with the market.

I have friends at CHK who haven't been as vigilant in looking for jobs as they probably should be but I think you're right. When you're paid that handsomely and get those kinds of benefits, it's harder than you think to willingly leave a cushy job like that if you think there's a chance you may live through the round of layoffs.

[PWitty]

I have friends at CHK who haven't been as vigilant in looking for jobs as they probably should be but I think you're right. When you're paid that handsomely and get those kinds of benefits, it's harder than you think to willingly leave a cushy job like that if you think there's a chance you may live through the round of layoffs.

The bright side is that if you are unfortunate enough to be on the wrong side of the layoffs and you hadn't already been planning ahead, the rest of the O&G biz is still booming and there is plenty of jobs available. They're just not all in OKC.

[soonerguru]

It's sad, but we all knew this day was coming. 2000 lost jobs will leave a mark in OKC. Coulda been worse I guess.

[Bellaboo]

The employees lost a perk last year as well. Instead of getting Thunder tickets for free, an employee had to buy them, albeit at discount.

[LuccaBrasi]

Speaking of all the community cuts, I was told they will still be doing the Christmas lights, but only about half what they did last year. I'm not sure I buy that even the source is very reliable. I think if they are laying off that many people, the Xmas light tradition, even at a reduced scale, is over.

[bchris02]

This is pretty bad. Perhaps the GE research center, along with the other recent economic developments, will help offset the shock to the local economy by this. Hopefully Chesapeake will be able to get back on stable ground again as well.