Pay is great until you realize they're paying you to give up your soul - Management McMaster-Carr Employee Review

1.0
8 Oct 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Working in management, the pay is good and you get experience that would be tough to get elsewhere for your experience level. However, this ends quickly if they decide you're not what they want anymore. Though it initially seems too good to be true, trust me, they pay so well so they can crush your spirit if they then choose to. The individual contributors here are great--they are solid and have to put up with a lot from management.

Cons

Once they "turn" on you, they make it very evident they could care less if you got hit by bus and died as long as they don't have to deal with you. They'll give you feedback that is incorrect and based in nothing but you're powerless to stop it. Trying to be a good manager here is impossible if you want to actually care about your employees. Upper management punishes you for that and doesn't take anything you say seriously. They prefer to make their own incorrect assumptions about your team based on small comments in meetings than take the word of someone who works with them day in and day out. The people in management who do well here are the ones that spend their time managing up and learning the skills that upper management cares about, even though these are often the people that are most disliked by their team...this leads to a pretty toxic and demoralizing work environment.

Explore other reviews about McMaster-Carr

5.0
14 June 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

At least in the Systems department, it’s a helpful and collaborative environment.

Cons

3 days in office and potentially long commute from the city

4.0
16 June 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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