Makerbot Reviews

I have been working at Makerbot full-time

Pros – -Really great group of people that work here
-Office environment is nice
-Good work culture

Cons – -Quick growth can create lots of change which isn't easy for everyone

Advice to Senior Management – -When companies grow quickly communication with employees is key
-Recognize those doing exceptional work. Positive reinforcement and recognition for a job well done go a long way

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at Makerbot full-time for more than a year

Pros – -You will never work with more talented, genuine, kindhearted and intelligent people than the ones you will find at MakerBot. Most of these people will be the leaders and innovators of the future.
-3D printing is an amazing field to work in, it will change the world, and it is great to be a part of that process. Our products are great and could be the best.
-Lot's of honesty and openness amongst employees. We are all on the same page.
-Some managers and a few chief officers are good and fair people, true leaders.

Cons – -The pay is extremely low, imbalanced and an insult when compared to the money the company will waste in other places.
-Certain employees are treated terribly. Paid unlivable wages, forced to work more than should be expected of one person and treated poorly the entire time.
- There is a clear divide between production, corporate and retail that is getting worse and causing communication to become difficult.
-The most powerful, and I'm assuming highest paid, employees are mostly friends or relatives. This wouldn't be so bad if they seemed more capable.
- We have already started to lose the best employees, and more will follow if things don't get better.

Advice to Senior Management – To the good managers and leaders:
Keep fighting the good fight. Push back against unrealistic goals and deadlines. Pay close attention to your employees.
To the very top:
Please leave. You're stifling, suffocating and negative. Your paranoia and greed are showing. Make your money and get out.
To the current and future investors:
This company is a gold mine full of amazing talent and opportunity. We are waiting to flourish. Have us treated better and there is nothing we can't accomplish.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

I worked at Makerbot full-time for less than a year

Pros – Get the chance to work with tons of smart people.

The market (3D printing) is a fast growing field and it looks good on your resume.

Cons – -Tons of smart people held back by upper management. Offered promotions within the company to only be moved to positions with a higher title / more work / same pay.

- Mandatory overtime for months straight. 6 days a week.

- Removal of benefits common in most other NYC based startups.

-Treated like cheap replaceable labor.

Advice to Senior Management – There are many smart and talented people in production. Treat these people like they are wanted there and not like cheap labor. Many of the people who start in production have high hopes for the company only to have them torn down right in front of them. Almost everyone I started with has left and they all went on to do amazing things.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at Makerbot full-time for less than a year

Pros – -3D printing industry is great
-Products are decent and the buzz about the company is great
-Looks good on the resume, you will get contacted by recruiters for other jobs quickly
-American product

Cons – -Low salary, lack of bonuses, and lack of any real perks are destroying workplace morale. Nearly everyone, in every department, openly talks about being broke and living in near-poverty. I have been employed at MakerBot for about one year and have not had one bonus or raise...despite being told how great of a job I am doing.

-Very high turnover for a potentially great company. This is always blamed on "being a startup," but it's just because of low wages.

-Getting asked to work on weekends gets aggravating (this seems to happen in many different departments)

-Attitude from "Upper Management" and CEO can get very hostile and outright shameful. Employees are treated with very little respect.

-Potentially nasty future. Upper management's does not value the company's customers.. customer service and business ethics are slipping rapidly.

Advice to Senior Management – -If you are one of the VCs that own MakerBot-- please find us a new CEO and CSO.

-Give everyone at the company a 50% pay increase and watch the employees start to care about their jobs. You wont have to beg employees to work on weekends if we made a good-living.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at Makerbot

Pros – Some of the most interesting and exciting people have worked here. They never stay for long, but they manage to recruit amazing people.

Cons – What you read here is pretty much the truth. We are very badly underpaid, but more importantly, the company cannot decide between caring about the community (seemingly at a cost to profitability) and caring about the bottom line and making a few people very rich. I suppose it will settle on the latter but I've never worked anywhere before where I felt bad for our customers.

Advice to Senior Management – My advice would be to the board and the investors: find someone who isn't just a pretty face that we can respect and who has credibility with the community that we've completely lost touch with. Or failing that, find someone who can actually be as mercenary as management aspires to be. Then we could get paid a living wage.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at Makerbot full-time for more than a year

Pros – The product is interesting and the company could have a great potential if it was managed properly!

Cons – Really, really poor management consequently, the whole production employees are the ones who carry the burden. No consistency in the hours either: you would find yourself doing overtime for weeks because of mismanagement.
There is new hiring everything 3 months because of people quitting:

Advice to Senior Management – Trust and treat your employees better and maybe they might stick around!

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at Makerbot full-time

Pros – Management is focused on making sure that employees are both a good fit with their supervisors and their teams; that makes for a very aligned atmosphere. I feel respected and acknowledged and excited to be working in such a creative and energetic company.

Cons – Growing pains but I really believe it will lead to all good things.

Advice to Senior Management – Keep on recognizing your employees for their hard work--it does make a difference!

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at Makerbot

Pros – If they see you are a hard worker, willing to learn, MakerBot will help you grow and develop.

Cons – With quick growth comes change and change isn't always easy for everyone.

Advice to Senior Management – Stick with it and keep growing and trying new things.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

I worked at Makerbot

Pros – The 3-D printing industry is fascinating and is booming. The work itself is great...very rewarding.
The employees are awesome! Some of the most down-to-earth people you will ever meet!

Cons – The company culture is very divisive. The company is split in terms of what department you happen to work in (like night and day). You might as well be working for two different companies.

Very poor management, poorly-made decisions. No clear direction from the top. There are just blanket speeches made about numbers and bottom lines.

There is very high turnover here. Constantly changing staff because of firings and people who just left on their own. Constant upper management turnover as well.

Employees are not valued. They are treated like robots (for lack of a better term!).

Salaries are sub-standard, at best.

Advice to Senior Management – As has been stated a few times already, place more value on your employees, and your sales and company earnings will naturally follow suit.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I worked at Makerbot full-time

Pros – Back in the day, the pro was that you were working in a brand new, disruptive industry with a team of people who really cared about and believed in the product.

Cons – Bad management ruined all of that. The CEO wants to be Steve Jobs, but he's really bad at managing a company. When things started to go south he fired the entire marketing team, and hired his dad to take over that department. The head of the fired team has gone on to win all the same awards, this time for MakerBot's competitors, while marketing quality from MakerBot itself has gone downhill.

The other reviewers (except the two astroturfers) have covered this. What the other reviewers haven't covered is that the COO is also causing a lot of damage, repeatedly hiring people for jobs like "receptionist" and a couple weeks later promoting them to things like "office manager". She also filled most of the department leadership with her friends.

The brain drain that followed has cleared out the remaining talent in the company. The pay was sub-standard when I was there, and may be getting better now, but this is not a place you want to work.

Advice to Senior Management – Treat your people better. They are the *ONLY* reason you've gotten to where you are.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend