Honestly...don't apply. Toxic workplace with incredibly high turnover - Business Operations Specialist McMaster-Carr Employee Review

1.0
Aug 21, 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Very little but I will say that benefits were amazing and at least the cafeteria food was usually pretty darn good

Cons

Pretty much everything else. From the authoritarian "big brother is always watching" feeling that everyone walks around with to the incredibly inconsistent management feedback to the soul crushing monotony of the actual work. It has the potential of being a great place to work if all that was changed. Hell even if just optimism existed it would be manageable. There is a reason people don't last there and it's good if u don't. It means u have creative thinking and dignity. I was reviewed 9 times during a 12 month period and met or exceeded expectation 7 of those times. I was told that I was inconsistent the previous year (and couldn't even point to any metrics or data to support this...they just went with "feel") and then was let go a month later. I had already been preparing for it since it seemed that if you get a bad annual review there is essentially nothing you can do to dissuade the course. Honestly I can't say this enough, if you have an education and thrive on engaging, fulfilling, collaborative work experiences...do yourself a favor and don't bother here!

Explore other reviews about McMaster-Carr

4.0
Jun 16, 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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