Both Chesapeake Energy and SandRidge Energy announced layoffs of workers this week. Chesapeake laid off the highest number at 200 employees, a move that came just days after shareholders approved a reverse stock split so the company would not be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange.
SandRidge let 26 workers go from its headquarters in downtown Oklahoma City.
Half of the job cuts at Chesapeake were at the company’s Oklahoma City headquarters and half were in the oilfield, according to Bill Hancock, the Business Services and Rapid Response Coordinator with the Oklahoma Office of Workforce Development.
“We continue to prudently manage our business and staffing levels to adapt to unprecedented market volatility and challenging commodity prices,” said Chesapeake spokesman Gordon Pennoyer.
Chesapeake faces a mountain of debt into the billions of dollars.
As of December 31, 2019, Chesapeake’s principal amount of debt outstanding was approximately $8.9 billion, compared to $9.7 billion as of September 30, 2019.
SandRidge Energy based in Oklahoma City notified state officials on Thursday of the layoff of 26 workers including two vice presidents at its downtown headquarters, a move that was warned when the company named a new President earlier this month.
It’s a move that leaves the SandRidge Energy high rise mostly filled with empty offices.
In a letter to the Oklahoma Office of Workforce Development, the company explained the layoff notices were made April 16 and were permanent.
“Unless an employee elects voluntarily to terminate his/her employment sooner, each affected employee will remain on WARN Leave through June 14, 2020, and the Company will provide current pay and benefits through that date,” stated the company in making the WARN notice.
Notices are filed in compliance with the Worker Adjustment Retraining and Notification Act. SandRidge did not immediately provide a list of the job titles of the affected positions nor of the classifications of each. But a later communications identified the eliminated positions which included a Vice President of Acquisitions and Divestitures and a Vice President of Operations. Others included an Associate General Counsel, Accounting Manager, Assistant Treasurer and an Executive Assistant.
The layoffs were guided by Carl F. Giesler Jr. slightly more than two weeks after he became President and CEO. At the time, SandRidge indicated it planned to make more staffing and salary cuts following a February announcement of intentions to cut more than half of its 120 corporate headquarters employees.
In February, the company reported a net loss of nearly a half-billion dollars or $12.68 a share.
SandRidge Energy lost nearly a half-billion dollars in 2019, the company reported Wednesday after markets closed. It posted a net loss of $9 million in 2018.
Source: WARN