text: **It is often said that the energy industry has an aging work force that is fast approaching**
  **retirement age. How is Chesapeake addressing this?**
  It is no secret that there is a shortage of experienced professionals in the natural gas and oil industry. The industry down- 
  turn of the 1980s and 1990s discouraged many from pursuing energy careers. In the following decades, strong compe- 
  tition from other industries lured away many of the best and brightest science and technology graduates, and today 
  many experienced professionals who stayed in the industry through the downturn are approaching retirement age. 
  As a result, one of our industry’s greatest challenges over the past 10 years has been to develop a new generation 
  of natural gas and oil professionals who have the knowledge and experience required to meet the nation’s growing 
  energy needs. 
  
  In 2000 Chesapeake was one of the first companies to recognize this trend and to understand how recruiting 
  and training a new generation of energy professionals would impact the company’s future success and its ability to 
  compete in the industry. At that time, Chesapeake formulated a business strategy to address future staffing needs 
  and decided to create a world-class college recruiting and intern program to recruit the most promising industry 
  talent. Today, Chesapeake hosts more than 150 interns every summer in its internship program, many of whom go 
  on to become full-time Chesapeake employees upon graduation. In addition, we have 350 students who receive 
  scholarships through Chesapeake programs, and our staff of college recruiters has developed strong relationships with professors, department heads 
  and career counselors at the more than 31 universities where we actively recruit. 
  
  Martha Burger 
  Senior Vice President – 
  Human and Corporate Resources 