No innovation, no long-term vision - Anonymous employee McMaster-Carr Employee Review

1.0
5 Nov 2023
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great benefits but these are now being pulled back. Slightly above industry pay depending on your position. There aren't a lot of positives about staying here more than a few years. The benefit that used to keep people here, the retirement plan, aren't actually viable for the majority of people. Most people will be pushed out within a few years across all tiers of the company. The work life balance since the pandemic doesn't exist anymore - you're expected to get impossible workloads done after hours. They are also forcing people back into the office at minimum 3 days a week without any flexibility. If you have children or are planning on having children there are no allowances to change your schedule.

Cons

Many of the one-star reviews capture what is wrong with working at this company. In addition to those, the employee morale has completely disintegrated over the last year. They have reorganized roles and expectations three times in the last three years and none have helped keep people. The addition of new roles and opportunities for career growth are not practiced. Promotions are not actually possible but are continually promised. Many people were promised career growth and pushed to work harder under that promise. Those individuals are not being promoted for any and all subjective reasons they can find. More disturbing is that these reorganizing attempts are now used to justify pushing people out. HR does not actually care about DEI, only the illusion of it. Most of the "diversity" they boast lives at the IC level and next to none in leadership. They point to a few token promotions to dispell this but every team I've worked on has been male leadership only and most of the female leadership has been fired or pushed out. They've spent the last four years chasing innovation only to fail at all. For others considering working here, do so only if you just but remember that the way they expect employees to operate, is not true anywhere else. You cannot translate skills here to outside of the company, what you learn will be limited and can negatively impact future employment. This is especially important to remember when you know they will actively push you out after a few years. I've actively discouraged others from applying here before because of how much it'll damage their career prospects and mental health. Managers will absolutely lie about what they say and want, without shame and even with evidence to the contrary. Make no mistake, you either will have to make people cry or you yourself will be crying. This isn't a tech company where having the name on your resume will help you elsewhere.

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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