Menlo Innovations Reviews

3.8

75% would recommend to a friend

(21 total reviews)

71% positive business outlook

Menlo Innovations has an employee rating of 3.8 out of 5 stars, based on 21 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Menlo Innovations employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Information Technology industry (3.9 stars).

Reviews by job title

21 reviews
3.0
12 Dec 2022
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Suburb work/life balance. Your time outside of work is respected. - Excellent environment for learning and experimenting - The environment is designed to maximize interchangeability, so you can take time off whenever you need. - Broad variety of projects with diverse technologies - If you are a charismatic white man, this will be the best job you'll ever have

Cons

- Hostile workplace for those of us with disabilities. They will follow the letter of the law when it comes to accommodations, but expect significant resistance and any request to be held against you when being considered for advancement. When I discussed my struggles and asked for assistance last year, I was advised by one of the owners to consider that I might not be a good fit for Menlo and would be better served by seeking other work. I heard from other employees in similar situations that they faced similar resistance. - Casually sexist, particularly if you are a developer. Expect to advance much slower than your male counterparts. - I cannot speak to the experiences of PoC employees, but representation is below the population demographics of the area. Washtenaw county consists of 75% white people, U of M, a common hiring target for Menlo, is 54% white, but Menlo is ~95% white people. A statistically significant bias that Menlo has made no effort to address. - Hiring and promotions are a popularity contest. If you are charismatic or an extrovert, you'll have a great time. If you're not, well, good luck. - Low pay for new employees. Like all predatory employers, this is justified by claiming the experience and opportunity makes up for it. - Management is proud of their lack of HR department, which is always a red flag. At Menlo what that means is if you experience harassment, discrimination, need to request accommodations, or would like clarification on a policy, you're on your own. - Your success at Menlo greatly depends on how well you are liked by management, particularly the Factory Floor Manager. - Nepotism and favoritism create unequal opportunities that border on discrimination.

1.0
1 Jun 2022
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

the CEO is an excellent speaker and motivator.

Cons

Huge lack of diversity, especially for being in Ann Arbor. They openly display everyone's salary -except for management. Leadership has been the same for 15 years. New employees come in with bright eyes and quickly burn out, retention is a big issue. I witnessed employees being shunned by their managers without any repercussion.

5.0
25 May 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great place to work. I highly recommend. Very collaborative environment with a wonderfully supportive team. Great pay and benefits. They are always looking to improve their processes and policies to meet the needs of employees. For example, you'll see older reviews talking about how workers were contractor rather than employee, or that pay was low. In 2018, they dedicated resources to reevaluate their pay structure and benefits and have since implemented that change and new pay scale. It's a flat organization structure, so decisions are made as a team, not by a distant group of management closed away in their office. If you are a full-time employee with an HMO health plan, Menlo covers 100% of the monthly premium for you & your family. If you choose to be a variable employee without benefits, your hourly pay rate is instead increased proportionally. There is paid paternity/maternity leave. You can bring your baby and/or dog to work. Pairing on projects prevents anyone from becoming a tower of knowledge--which is great for the company as well as the employees. Even senior-level employees can easily schedule a week-long (or sometimes even month-long) vacation and not have to worry about all kinds of decisions and fire-fighting waiting for them when they get back. We carry on business as usual.

Cons

Dealing with problem employees can be rather hairy. Letting someone go can be a long process and as far as I've seen is rarely done. Sometimes you will be paired with someone you do not get along with or do not like. It isn't fun and can lead to a draining and frustrating work week, but thankfully it might be months before you have to pair with them again. Though our tours tend to talk up how many introverts work here, know that you'll still need to cultivate your extrovert skills if you expect to get promotions. Talking in front of groups, advocating for yourself, and volunteering for tasks is the just short list. The team will support you in all of it, but expect to be pushed out of your comfort zone fairly regularly. Practice makes perfect and it gets easier over time, but it takes some getting used to. Paying for parking is a pain point. Only full-time employees qualify for a parking pass and even those are in short supply. If you are on the wait list you get some reimbursement, but you will likely be paying more than that out of pocket. Once the current office lease is up in about 3 years we'll be relocating--location not yet chosen--and there is a strong consensus that we'll be looking for somewhere with free parking available, so it is a problem that will hopefully resolve itself soon enough.

Viewing 1 - 3 of 21 Reviews

Glassdoor has 32 Menlo Innovations reviews submitted anonymously by Menlo Innovations employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Menlo Innovations is right for you.