Chesapeake Energy Layoffs Hit Bradford County

• Marie Cusick
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  Marie Cusick was the Harrisburg reporter for StateImpact Pennsylvania.

Chesapeake Energy’s corporate restructuring has lead to layoffs in the company’s busiest hub of its Pennsylvania operations– Bradford County.
Last week Chesapeake’s newly appointed CEO Doug Lawler announced the departure of four top executives. The company has also laid off staff in its Athens field office, according to sources familiar with the situation.
The company did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Several analysts contacted by StateImpact Pennsylvania declined to comment on the layoffs, but in an earnings call earlier this month Lawler said his top priority for the company is financial discipline.
Chesapeake Energy is the most active driller in Pennsylvania, with 792 unconventional wells.
Crains Cleveland Business also recently reported Chesapeake has let go of staff in Ohio.
A woman who answered the phone at the Athens field office told StateImpact Pennsylvania Chesapeake’s local media relations coordinator, Rory Sweeney, is no longer with the company.
Bradford County Commissioner Doug McLinko (R) says he doesn’t know the exact numbers, but he believes about eight people were laid off locally, representing the company’s community and landowner relations staff.
“They got rid of the whole department, which is alarming to me because that’s the face of Chesapeake Energy to the community,” he says.
McLinko said the timing is particularly frustrating as the community deals with widespread allegations of underpaid gas royalties.
Many of the complaints are directed at Chesapeake.
“I support the development of the Marcellus Shale,” says McLinko, “We have terrific operators up here. I’m not happy with a few.”

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