May the one in the trenches speak up? - Hourly/Shipping McMaster-Carr Employee Review

2.0
Nov 8, 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Many opportunities to educate yourself with educational programs. Have programs for your kids college. Very good retirement program (15%-25% of base pay). Supervisors are of truly intrested in getting their employees to work together. If you get hurt they really do work with you to correct the problem causing the injury. Will stick with you if your honestly trying to improve you work performance.

Cons

Upper management has a real problem with communication with hourly. There is a strong culture of eliteism. Young MT's are indoctrinated to be conformists. Micromanagement repeatly quashes positive improvement. Supervisor/Hourly relations are strained at best. Secrecy causes hourly to lose track of what is expected of them. Supervisors are stretched thin with too many responsibilities and pressure from upper management. Hourly has problems getting tools needed to do their job. Most of all, the upper management culture has a real problem listening!

Explore other reviews about McMaster-Carr

5.0
Jun 14, 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
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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