Give employees a chance to earn a career, not merely a job. - Non Management McMaster-Carr Employee Review

4.0
15 May 2009
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The benefits are tremendous. The pay is well above industry average. The company is very professional in all dealings with employees. It is practically a company mantra to provide a safe, clean, and productive work environment.

Cons

The corporate culture is such that there is almost a caste system between management and employees. Management and employees usually segregate into separate groups in the break rooms, as well as at functions outside the company. There seems to be an insurmountable barrier for a regular employee to be promoted into management. You seem to have to be hired into management to ever have a shot at moving up. Also, certain departments in the company are reluctant to clearly express performance expectations of employees. I believe expectations should be quantified and clearly stated. I also believe that those numbers should be publicly posted, as this fosters a sense of teamwork, and employees are more apt to strive for better performance through competition.

Explore other reviews about McMaster-Carr

5.0
7 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Salary, benefits, coworkers, work/life balance

Cons

micromanagement at every level and job is boring at times

4.0
16 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Pay/benefits are incredibly generous - People are generally easy/nice to work with - Note that the Systems department seems to be fairly isolated from the negative issues discussed in other reviews (e.g. tension between warehouse workers and management) - I haven't experienced any of those issues within the systems department. In my opinion, Systems is a great place to work and develop as an engineer. - Hybrid work style (3 days in office). Personally, I like hybrid more than both fully in-office and fully remote styles. - Great cafeteria with good food and cheap prices. - Good work/life balance (outside of being on call, I can leave work at work).

Cons

- Work is not super interesting to me. I come from a highly technical, but very different (not ecommerce/industrial supplies), background where I was doing work I was much more interested in. No doubt there are folks in Systems who love the domain though. - While I'm not on call a ton (1-2 weeks every few months), I really hate being on call. I like to leave work at work. Note that joining at least one reliability team is expected within your first year or so.

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