Just Not Worth It - Anonymous employee McMaster-Carr Employee Review

1.0
Aug 27, 2024
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The yearly bonuses, retirement fund, education, etc are a moot point if you get fired within the first year- which is the most realistic outcome for new grad hires :)

Cons

The other reviews are true, but if your still considering this job let me offer my perspective as someone who chose to leave: What is culture and why does it matter? It's going to slack someone, and their account has been deactivated (aka fired) and having it unacknowledged, with the exception of lunch gossip. It’s getting moved to an unrelated department, and not getting a say in what your role is. The constant merry-go-round contributes to shallow knowledge of department processes. Good luck trying to get an answer for why we do things a specific way, and get ready to unravel it from scratch If something breaks. It's actively avoiding complexity, to make it easy for the next person to pick up the task, to accommodate the breakneck turnover and movements. You have little ownership in your work. It's managers critiquing work under the guise of continuous improvement due to minor grammar. (I have attached vs I attached). It's endless meetings where achievements are overshadowed by "but we have more work to do." This is most obvious in the quarterly reports and planning, where they use that exact jargon for every dept. It honestly reads like a script. It's how they force you to draw the conclusion the only way to keep up with the work is overtime. It's being forced into deliver feedback you don’t believe is helpful or productive. It’s micromanaging people's time down to 15 minutes. It’s the supervisors not even being able to execute the work they are grading so harshly. I walked into this company with plans to put my head down and collect cash. I was lucky to have a good manager (rare) who cared about the team. I saved MCM tens of thousands in direct labor costs, improved work all along the lines of the current initiatives of the time, and it did not matter, because every day was just draining beyond belief and I started to doubt my own skills and abilities. Most of what I did here doesn't apply outside of MCM. Anything I did learn I could have learned faster elsewhere.

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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