Great pay and benefits, but little flexibility or control over your career - Systems Engineer II McMaster-Carr Employee Review

3.0
Jul 24, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Pay and benefits are unmatched outside of FAANG type companies - Generally working with good people

Cons

- Things move slowly, not using industry-standard practices - Essentially expected to be available 24/7, I was on rotation 3 weeks a month and doing multiple late-night releases per-week and I was told to not request comp time - Team experience completely depended on manager, some were great and some weren't - No control over your career progression or which team you are placed on - Hybrid in the burbs

Explore other reviews about McMaster-Carr

5.0
Jul 15, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Excellent people, great opportunities internally and externally to learn. Met some of my best friends there.

Cons

Can be stressful, long hours, and of course at times competitive.

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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