Pros
My dad founded this company with my uncle, and it had 6 employees in 1990 when I started as the janitor, working after school got out each day. I paid my way through undergrad at WSU by working at METER, and left the company in 2002 to attend business school back east. I returned to METER in 2008, just after we sent one of our sensors to the surface of Mars on the Phoenix lander. Eventually I became its CEO in 2011. Here are some things about METER that I’m proud of: - Open books: Every quarter, we show our entire income statement and balance sheet to employees - 10% of profits donated to philanthropy - 20% of profits paid to employees in profit-sharing - Fully paid maternity and paternity leave - Employees invited to purchase shares in the company - Subsidized lunch cooked on-site by a chef - Tuition subsidy and sabbatical leave - On-site gym with instructor-led fitness sessions - Customer net promoter scores of 0.6-0.7 - Employee satisfaction scores that fall between 80-90%
Cons
Religion: Many of the people who work here are Mormon. METER’s founders are Mormon, and people tend to hire who they know, so it isn’t surprising there are a lot of Mormon employees here. If you don’t like Mormons, this isn’t the place for you. If you wonder what it’s like for the non-Mormons who work here, feel free to ask them. Nepotism: METER is owned by my family. I wouldn’t be C.E.O. if my dad hadn’t been its founder. If that bugs you, METER isn’t a good fit for you. One side note: nepotism typically means hiring or promoting incompetent people just because they’re family. I have 8 siblings. Between us and our spouses, we’ve got 18 bachelors degrees, 10 masters degrees, and 6 doctorates. While that doesn’t mean we’re qualified to run a company, neither do I see us as a generally incompetent bunch . Outsourcing: METER has offices in five countries, and we hire the best people we can find in all those locations. Yes, we consider cost when deciding who to hire, but we usually find the right person just by hiring the most qualified candidate. If the idea that METER might hire a team member in the Philippines offends you, this isn’t a good company for you.