employer cover photo
employer logo
employer logo

Smart Energy Water

Is this your company?

IT Cemetery. Read this before you join - Anonymous employee Smart Energy Water Employee Review

1.0
Sep 12, 2016
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Since this is a review from the IT perspective: None. Really. If you're thinking you can change the culture and the results, go ahead, you've been warned. I thought long and hard about joining after reading the reviews, and many are spot on. I did not read one that had false claims. Should have known better. The only pros I'll mention are in general company the hangouts and open spaces. - Hangouts give people the opportunity to learn about company's successes--company financials are not shared, though--this was a first for me. Not knowing if the company is making or losing money. Read Cons below. - Open spaces facilitate communication if the teams are co-located in the same six-space pod. The colors are nice (lime green and other shades of green). You'll get a SUS mug and a glass for water. The company spent in having a nice environment. The con about open spaces is that you can't be very loud and people tend to whisper. The general culture does not help, either, no matter how nice the environment is. Read Cons below.

Cons

Hmm. Where should I start? First of all, the review is aimed at the company, not the people, and this is about the IT perspective. if you're in sales or marketing, this may be good for you. There is nice and great people working there. The only 5-star review comes from a nice person that is happy there, but that's the only one I knew had been there for more than 5 years, besides the CEO. GENERAL I mention these because they have an effect on the IT portion of the review. - Seriously unorganized. Many positions seem to address the need of the week, and there's only two executive levels: CEO and everybody else, (directors, managers, etc.) reporting to the CEO. This is a problem in delegation, career advancement, culture, you name it. - You will never know how much money the company makes. If you're the kind of person that thinks that as long as a check keeps coming in, who cares, then this won't be a problem for you. If, however, you want to make sure you don't end up looking for a job in the near future, ask. You'll get a straight no or an evasive answer, but you tried. - Revolving door at all levels. High turnover. I never knew if the hiring was because the company was growing or because it was . "Job whisperer" culture (nobody knows when someone is let go or leaves the company) and many people whisper--open spaces may be a reason. - This is un unsustained claim, but I felt "watched". The reason is on an email that I sent and was regurgitated by the CEO as advice on exactly what I was proposing. - Underutilized resources. Lots of great people with Master's degrees working in unrelated roles. Seems for show? Beats me. - Life balance? Expect to work nightly from home with remote teams and to be summoned on weekends. - Monthly performance reviews with no follow up...and you rate yourself. Give yourself 5 stars. IT - The biggest problem is that the company seems to operate with a startup mentality. If you can survive and thrive in chaos, by all means, go ahead and join the party. - BFF Software development process: Bug Fixing and Fixing...you get the idea. Don't think for a second that this won't be your main activity. This in itself should be a red flag because the problems that stem from it are many--architectural, quality, - Constant fire-fighting mode. When everything is important, it stops being important. - Lack of several general software development practices (or when they're there, they're lacking). The intention is there, the tools are there, the smarts are there, but it seems to get there very slowly: Fragile SDLC, brittle SCM, Non-existent CI/CD. If you know what the acronyms mean, you'll know what I mean. I'll stop there. Adding more would be venting, whining and not helpful to your decision. Hopefully this helps and you're not here a year from now writing one of these.

Explore other reviews about Smart Energy Water

5.0
May 30, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good place to work and collaborative

Cons

Nothing is wrong with management

1.0
Jun 1, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The starting and base compensation is exceptionally competitive and easily the biggest draw to the company.

Cons

Immense Turnover Rate: There is a massive and noticeable revolving door here. Employee turnover is incredibly high across teams, which severely impacts day-to-day operations and team continuity. Outdated Technology & Vision: The company relies heavily on old technology and lacks a modern, forward-thinking vision. Innovation is minimal, making it difficult to progress or feel like you are building future-proof skills. Unhappy Clients: Due to operational gaps and outdated systems, client satisfaction is low. You will likely spend a lot of time managing frustrated customers and dealing with the fallout of unmet expectations. Unethical Executive Management: Leadership actions and decisions often cross into unethical territory. There is a distinct lack of transparency, integrity, and trust from the executive level down, which heavily damages company morale.

2
See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All