Chesapeake Energy Corp. on Friday has offered a “voluntary separation program” for some of its employees as part of efforts to improve efficiencies and reduce costs. The layoffs, the third round since June, would remove about 2% of Chesapeake’s workforce of nearly 12,500.

“The voluntary program is being offered to close to 275 employees who meet criteria based upon a combination of age and years of Chesapeake service,” the Oklahoma City-based producer said. No forced layoffs are planned.

“This program is designed to give our longer-term employees the chance to benefit from their years of service to Chesapeake while furthering our efforts to maximize corporate performance and maintain our leadership role in this competitive and constantly evolving industry,” said Martha A. Burger, senior vice president of human and corporate resources.

Key employees’ departures could be temporarily delayed to ensure that there are appropriate staffing levels to meet business needs, the company said. Eligible employees would have 45 days to consider the offer. Those who choose to accept the offers would “separate from the company” in February.

In June Chesapeake laid off 70 workers in Fort Worth, TX, from an office that managed the company’s Barnett Shale operations. The job cuts were Chesapeake’s first since 2009. The company in August said it also planned to sell its high-rise Texas headquarters; that has not yet occurred. Last month Chesapeake laid off about 115 employees at a West Virginia subsidiary and relocated operations to Ohio, where drilling is more profitable. About 43 of those West Virginia workers since have been rehired.

The latest news is layered into a tumultuous year for the No. 2 U.S. natural gas producer, which has been struggling to transition to become a leading onshore oil producer. The company has sold close to $11 billion of its assets this year, but it still has an estimated $10.8 billion in debt.

In addition to asset sales to pare debt, company co-founder Aubrey McClendon has been dogged most of the year by federal and internal investigations into loans and financial dealings; he remains CEO but was stripped of his chairmanship duties in early May (see Daily GPI, May 2). Former ConocoPhillips Chairman Archie Dunham was named chairman in June (see Daily GPI, June 22).

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