Good benefits, bad working environment - Anonymous employee McMaster-Carr Employee Review

2.0
Mar 31, 2012
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

As staff or management, you'll make more money here with less experience and qualifications than you would elsewhere. You don't pay out of pocket for retirement or health care, they'll pay for you to take any courses you want after just 3 months and with no time commitment after you finish, and making 40k a year you can easily retire with a million in your retirement account ... If you last that long

Cons

I have never seen so many people leave a company, in the middle of a job crisis with no other offers or jobs lined up, as I have here at McMaster Atlanta. Recently in management alone there have been double digit firings and resignations. Several key positions are open, those who stay often feel overworked, and the bench of qualified replacements is paper thin. As a result, people who were successful in other fields or with top mba degrees are promoted too quickly to be able to confidently set direction or command the necessary respect from staff or management subordinates. Even those successful within the company are at times moved to functions where they have little to no experience. Being able to gain experience across marketing, finance, and operations sounds great in the interview, but without a strong management team the reality is often a nightmare. Upper management is constantly changing priorities due to several large scale initiatives simultaneously in the works. This makes it nearly impossible for all other levels of management to effectively lead a team or understand their own expectations. Tenured employees in staff and management are cynical, and new hires quickly become jaded as the resulting low morale from the above issues causes staff and entry level management to be very vocal with each other about frustrations and concerns.

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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