Once the economy turns around I'm outta here. - HQ Position Fastenal Employee Review

1.0
30 Oct 2009
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

A good place to start. A lot of the people at HQ are very nice. Also ~~ if you live in Winona, then where else are you gonna work, right?

Cons

The pay is terrible. I have worked with the company several years, and done a good job with one promotion. One would expect that my pay may have increased, but no, since so much of my salary is tied to a bonus I'm down 20% year over year. When you are unhappily making only around $30 K to start with, that hurts. There is no way that people in such a low pay bracket should have so much of their pay at risk (but what am I talking about, there are no pay brackets... you have no idea what anyone else in your type of position might make). Particularly at headquarters where your connection to sales, and therefore a bonus, is minimal at best. There are no regular employee reviews. I am convinced this is so they do not have to face the prospect of giving someone a raise. I know people that have gone 6 or 7 years (that is not a typo - seven years) without a single raise. All good employees to boot. It's hilarious to me because Fastenal sells its customers on "service" and how you have to pay to get good service (which is why their prices are so ungodly high, and regularly increase). And then they pay their employees s**t, with no raises/increases, and expect to get top notch performance. Granted, the recession has made it worse, but come on. Our sales might be down, but we're still turning a profit.

Explore other reviews about Fastenal

5.0
22 Mar 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

It was a fun job to do when I just turned 18

Cons

Hard labor, gets quite boring after a while

4.0
5 June 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Opportunity to grow and advance, good work life balance.

Cons

Pay can be low for the industry.

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