Game Changer - Anonymous employee Graybar Employee Review

5.0
24 Oct 2022
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I applied for a warehouse position at Graybar looking for a job and a steady source of income. What I found was something profoundly different, something that would challenge my professional goals and fundamentally shift my career path. My first year on the team I learned about Graybar's customers, products, and systems. I also learned that Graybar was a Fortune 500 company with locations across the U.S. This was a surprise to me because I had never heard of the company until shortly before I applied, and to be honest it didn't feel like I was working for a 'big company'. I decided to stick around and take advantage of as many development opportunities as I could. Over the next five years, I promoted into customer service and then a management position. Along the way, my employee benefits helped me navigate the birth of my first son and also go back to college through Graybar's tuition reimbursement program. Ten years later, I am a director with a career I love, a college graduate, and I am getting ready to celebrate my 17th Graybar anniversary. What started as a job search, and a decision to take a chance on a company I didn't know, ended up changing the entire game. I'm truly grateful for that.

Cons

Graybar is over 150 years old. This history is very special, but can also hold back progress at times.

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Graybar Response
3y
What a review! Your story is so wonderful but also not the exception at Graybar - we have many stories just like yours of folks who started here without much knowledge of our company or business and ended up with a fabulous long-term career! Your story is an inspiration for others who are considering working for Graybar. Thank you for sharing.

Explore other reviews about Graybar

5.0
11 June 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Strong department leadership in current role

Cons

Many senior team members with decades of stored brain knowledge that is hard to share

3.0
6 Apr 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Many opportunities to learn about distribution and management. Pto is three weeks per year plus holidays and over a s Week of sick time. If you work here longer, you can buy enough company shares to receive a sizeable dividend each year. You are allowed to buy about 5% of your salary in company shares per year and then receive usually 20% of that back per year. The profit sharing plan contributes 10% of your salary to your 401k account but you need to be vested to keep it all.

Cons

You will need a second job to live. Sales reps make way more and do half the work but they report to their managers much more. If you are a CSR, sales people feel entitled to treat you however they want and their manager will back them up. You are watched by coworkers and management like a high surveillance prison especially when you're new but they will leave you alone if you're good at your job after a year or so. Graybar brags about how much revenue and profit they make but middle and upper management suck it all up leaving scraps for the workers who made it for them.

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