Miromatrix Medical Reviews

I think only one person in management has any actual managerial training, the others are scientists who gained management positions. This means they have no previous practical management experience, and it shows. They were somehow both control freaks and totally unaware of what it took to do your job. Technicians are treated as second-class citizens. The CEO was once overheard saying they were "a dime a dozen" which I know he completely believes because he recently laid off a significant number of them who were still contract, and thus got absolutely no severance pay. They also got absolutely no notice, even though it was clear from two employees' contract extensions (rather than a hire, as they had previously done) that they'd been planning this for months. People were told over the phone after a 10-hour shift, or in the parking lot on their way in, and were not allowed to go to their desks to get their things. They had to make a list off the top of their heads about what was theirs and get it mailed to them. Even before that, techs were grossly overworked, especially once you finally got hired on as salary. The job is moderately physical; you're routinely lifting full 5L glass jars of media, bending and twisting, working with your arms up and out inside a flow hood for multiple hours at a time moving equipment *extremely* carefully so you don't contaminate it. And when you're not doing that, you're walking/standing. Often while carrying things. Throughout my employment there, I had shoulder pain bad enough that I had to see a massage therapist, who expressed genuine concern for how bad my trapezius was knotted up, and I developed shin-splints. I am far from the only employee to experience this. Both men and women had issues. Once you were salary, they also didn't care if you were constantly working unpaid overtime, which I did almost weekly for the entire year I was salary there. And the entire job is very high-stress. While nobody "yells" at you if you happen to contaminate something, they make it very, very clear that it costs them tens of thousands of dollars. But they give you such an enormous workload that by the end of the week you're too exhausted not to make the occasional mistake. Any request for help was met with "We're hiring!", but they'd turn away good candidates for the most obnoxious reasons possible, like "they tried too hard and seemed too confident"... in an interview. You know. That thing where you're supposed to make yourself look like a competent person. And they certainly were constantly hiring because turnover was through the roof. Techs rarely stayed for even two years, and most often stayed much less than that. There were 3 teams that experienced complete turnover while I was there, keeping maybe one overlapping tech who left after they finally found a new job. Even non-management scientists, who were wonderful people that techs got to be fairly close to, like going out in groups for dinner and drinks together, would routinely report being overworked, stretched thin, pushed beyond normal parameters, and getting crap pay compared to every other position they'd ever held. And finally, they push results WAY more than they should. For someone who has worked in other research labs, it is immediately apparent that they over-read what they want from the data. Pay would be okay-ish if it was a normal position. But it's not. It's physically, mentally, and emotionally stressful, so the pay becomes utterly crap. And they definitely under-pay you when you're contract or a weekend employee.

There are not really advancement opportunities within the team outside of tech lead, which is held over us to keep us on the team. The team itself is mostly manufacturing rather than RnD (unlike what I was told in my interview), which can make things boring and repetitive if you require variety. We are on call every other week. It's part of the job, but not ideal for busy people. I get called in out of normal business hours about 4 times per month, but the call schedule is released 1-2 months in advance for planning purposes. The PTO for the position is about 10 days per year, (accrues based on how long you have been on) plus 1-2 flex holidays. Most employees at Miromatrix are nice to work with, but there are growing pains associated with being a startup that cause a lot of people stress. I left because the job was not right for my work style and because of my boss’s actions and words towards the techs and my manager. My boss is extraordinarily hard on us and their frequent mood swings keep us on edge and worried about our standing in the team. During inclement weather, the executive team often works from home but refuses to let technicians stay home, even when activities at work are minimal to none.