Thread regarding Southwestern Energy Co. layoffs

In Arkansas, field supervisors have been told all of their jobs were safe as well as been given company trucks and new IPhone 6s and possibly more money...not very smart when many are losing jobs.

How many were left in Arkansas, and were any transferred?

In my opinion there is an irony here. Mueller should be run out immediately, with NO perks. His resume speaks for itself. Exploration is a total embarrassment, not just to SWN, but to the industry. If SWN desires to continue its exploration efforts, it needs a leader who knows how it is done. Obviously, exploration is batting 000%. Way was hand picked by Mueller and the BOD approved Way to succeed him. Really? Greg Kerley is on the BOD. He has seen the company climb out of the Hale lawsuit, make a great deal for Overton, watch the Fayetteville shale be discovered and exploited, all under the leadership of Harold Korell. Greg should be ashamed. Rumor has it that Korell was asked to come back as CEO, but he declined. He has lost ~80% of his net worth in his SWN holdings. Harold, why did you think Mueller was the answer, when you had Richard Lane, who, undoubtedly, would have lived by the formula. Mueller was not the right "people" and he did not do the "right" things. Then there is business development. Two former Houston Exploration employees that Mueller brought on board 5 months after he arrived. If you remember correctly, an activist shareholder, Janus Funds, who believed there was more value in the company, started a campaign to increase shareholder value. Houston Exploration was subsequently sold to Forest Oil out of Denver. These two people skyrocketed up the corporate SWN ladder, and in a few short years one is now Executive VP and the other a Senior VP of corporate development. These same two people were very instrumental in the Chesapeake deal. In my opinion, Chesapeake was one of the worst run companies in the industry. Chesapeakes ownership, in anything it owns, is well known to be less than stellar, yet we were able to close a $5.4 billion deal by the end of 2014. I still can't figure where SWN used the underlying assets to create value plus. SWN didn't even know how they were going to pay for it. And, what about that 1.3 pvi? No hedging? And now the irony, with very little, or no consultation with individuals managers, the executive VP and the Senior VP decided who would lose their jobs and who would stay. 1100 people lost their livelihood, because of a deal that strained the company's balance sheet so much, it was downgraded from "investment grade" to "junk"... SWN needs to be doing the "right" thing by cutting its SVP's by 45%. It is just 6, but as overly paid as they are, it could possibly save 30 - 40 jobs.

SVPs cut? Seriously? The only "Formula" still in effect is how many non-manager employees do we need to cut in order for all the SVPs and above to keep their jobs, bonuses, etc.

The 60 day thing is federal although Texas may also have a similar law (but I doubt it). What I want to know is when are the SVPs are going to get their share of the layoffs. There are 14 of them and a 44% reduction of that means at least 6 and maybe 7 should lose their jobs. When is that going to happen?

This is just the beginning. Put your seat belt on cause the ride is gonna get rough!!

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2016/01/25/here-s-how-many-houston-jobs-southwestern-energy.html

link no longer works

In Texas, there is a statute wherein, a company, with 50 or more employees, must give 60 days notice before laying off employees. All the people laid off on 1/21, were actually given 60 days notice of being laid off. For all intents and purposes, the people laid off are actually still full time employees of SWN. They just don't have to be at work, SWN's choice, for those 60 days. SWN also had to notify the Texas Workforce Commission of the aforesaid layoffs. Although, 1100 people were let go, only 376 of the 1100 were in the Houston office. Although there always is a possibility of more layoffs, I think you can rest until SWN knows what it's cash flow will be. With commodity prices the way they are and SWN's atrocious debt load, I wouldn't expect the cash flow to be much to the north of $600,000,000.00! SWN's stock has become a very intriguing play. Good luck!