Are 3D Printing Jobs Really all 'That"

[Brian_Krassenstein]

While most people would assume that working for one of the large 3D printer manufacturers such as 3D Systems, Stratasys, MakerBot, etc. would be a very rewarding, fun job experience, we examined reviews and statistics that show that this may be a misleading assumption. Using Glassdoor, thanks to a current 3D printer manufacturer's employee, I examine exactly what the atmosphere is at these companies. While I only use a small sample size for this study (if you would even call it that), there is a lot that can be learned. Read and see more at:
http://3dprint.com/25163/unhappy-3d-printer-workers/

Do you work for any of these companies? Let's hear your own personal feedback

[old man emu]

I'm not really surprised by the comments made by employees, as a matter of fact, I am hesitant to believe the result from Formlabs employees.

Why am I not surprised? Employee dissatisfaction and high staff turn-over are signs of poor management. This poor management can rarely be sheeted home to the interpersonal skills of the Owner/CEO. The root cause is often that the organization is operating without a functional Management System. I've seen this many times and it is a fair assumption that this is the cause of the majority of failures of new businesses in their first year.

A Management System is simply a documented approach to attaining the continual improvement of an organization by establishing the methods whereby the organization will develop plans to reach the goals for which the organization was established; implementing those plans; monitoring and measuring progress towards those goals, and finally, how it will attend to modifying those methods so it can set new goals if the initial ones have been reached, or get back on track to meeting them if the initial plans caused the organization to miss the target. The things that employees gripe about, like bad management; overtaxing workloads, poor remuneration and lack of career paths are all things that have to be recognised when planning how to reach the organization's and how they will be dealt with.

This failure to use a Management system is equally applicable to the plumber starting out on his own, or the Engineering PhDs starting up a hi-tech company using their particular engineering skills. Following my son's career in the world of IT Service Provision, I have seen it happen so often that I've advised him to answer the question, "Where do you see yourself in five years' time?", with "That all depends on how good your Business Management System is, and if it is used as a tool in operating this business." Hardly a wiseguy response; more of a Wise Guy response. I've advised him that if the organization has not got an operational Management System, to thank the interviewers for their time, and quietly leave. Failure to do so will result in his having to do the job search thing again six months down the track.

I've seen many an organization, started by one or two people with great skills or great ideas that can be put into operation, fail to blossom because the majority of the founders' time was taken up with the daily minutiae of producing a product and getting it sold. There have been too many cases of organizations bursting onto the scene like a 4th of July firework, only to become a damp squib soon after because of the failure to get involved in the Big Picture.

Old Man Emu

PS: None of the above has been copied and pasted from Business Management textbooks or course notes. It is the product of my undergraduate course at the University of Life. So, if you thinks it's worth including it in an essay, go ahead. But I wonder how the citation, "Old Man Emu, personal communication." would be accepted? OME

[richardphat]

When you have a small business company with 7 employee, everyone knows everyone, do you really think the CEO would not know who write what? Anyone can figure out the style and manner you phrase the sentence and who it links too.

[Geoff]

I think Formlabs should have a good rating, with only so many employees if you cannot keep that small number of people happy, then its pretty obvious management needs some work as OME said so elegantly.

[old man emu]

as OME said so elegantly.

Nice of you to compliment me.

OME

[LambdaFF]

This failure to use a Management system is equally applicable to the plumber starting out on his own, or the Engineering PhDs starting up a hi-tech company using their particular engineering skills.

A very good post overall. A good management system makes all the difference between "situation's shitty but we aim for so and so" and "situation's shitty and there's no change in sight".

[soofle616]

Remove 3D printing from the equation and it's not unlike any other company anywhere doing anything. Regardless of whether the company is small or large you have the potential for problems. With large companies you have office politics, bureaucratic red tape, and an overall sense of being just another small number in the pool. With small companies you have different office politics (usually more open and dramatic imo) and issues with lack of proper management. Startups are even worse because the landscape changes so quickly that anyone that can't keep up goes away leading to high turnover which makes it difficult to get things done as well as hurting moral overall. 3d printing is cool, obviously, but so are a lot of other fields. Just because you work in a given field doesn't mean your job is exciting or even fun. Hell I work in the firearms industry and I can't tell you the last time I held a gun, let alone got to go out and play with a .50cal, or minigun, or anything else exotic.

[dklassen]

I think working at any tech startup would be brutal. Watched Print the Legend the other night. Thought it was pretty good but damn, they are all just a bunch of kids. I must be getting old.