Yesterday’s axing of 800 Chesapeake Energy employees nationwide by newly appointed CEO Doug Lawler is still reverberating throughout the industry (see The Great Chesapeake Massacre: Lawler Fires 800 People in One Day).

Of the 800 fired, 640 of them worked at Chessy’s headquarters in Oklahoma City, OK. When 640 people lose their jobs in a single city (heck, in a single state), it’s a really big deal–big enough that the firings rated a statement from Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, who had this to say:
Read More “OK Gov. Fallin Weighs in on Chesapeake Energy Mass Firings”

Doug Lawler, Chesapeake Energy’s new CEO–brought over from Anadarko Petroleum after Chessy board member and corporate raider Carl Icahn booted Aubrey McClendon to the curb–says he’s now done swinging the ax at the once-great natural gas driller. And boy did he end his ax-swinging with a bang–he must be exhausted. Yesterday Lawler fired another 800 people companywide, in addition to the ones already let go in his recent firing sprees (see Chesapeake’s Lawler Continues to Swing the Ax – More VPs Gone and God, Veggies & Bees – What’s Next on the Chesapeake Chopping Block?). Yesterday was more like a massacre than a mass firing. We seriously wonder how long Lawler will last after inflicting so much psychological (and real) damage on the company. Is he just getting the company ready for sale at his master’s bidding–so Icahn can add a few more zeros to his already robust bank account?

Some 640 of the 800 who were fired yesterday worked at Chessy’s Oklahoma City headquarters (is there anyone left to turn the lights out?). Twenty of the fired were Pennsylvania employees, on top of the dozen or more PA employees already let go a few months ago. No word on how many got the ax in OH or WV. However, the total body count now stands at around 1,200 since the beginning of the year. That’s 1,200 people out of work thanks to Carl Icahn and Doug Lawler. Here’s the bloody details…
Read More “The Great Chesapeake Massacre: Lawler Fires 800 People in One Day”