McMaster-Carr reviews

2.6

24% would recommend to a friend

(1,354 total reviews)

Jay Delaney

30% approve of CEO

42% positive business outlook

McMaster-Carr has an employee rating of 2.6 out of 5 stars, based on 1,354 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an average working experience there. The McMaster-Carr employee rating is 30% below average for employers within the Construction, Repair & Maintenance Services industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

1K reviews
1.0
Mar 25, 2026

Look Elsewhere, Money Not Worth It

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- The fellow employees you work alongside, not under, are exceptional people: kind, helpful, intelligent, adaptable, and part of a congenial feeling. - At times, the job instructions (so to speak) can be clear. - Lots of amenities, like a walking path, indoor walking path in the warehouse, amazing cafeteria with fair pricing, drawers with pain meds and generic DayQuil, various workspaces that promote collaboration (some sweet-looking conference rooms), natural light everywhere except the basement

Cons

- Management is an intentionally separate track and attracts very young people from excellent schools, often with little experience between college and here. It is apparent they are smart, but they are not really trained in our day-to-day job realities. They are young enough to, overall, not have terrific social skills, like avoiding saying hi to the people "under" them, never mentioning positive achievements, being very cold and hard to get to know, "professional" to the point of having walls put up, etc. There's a reason so many people mention this as a Con. It is an unnecessary wedge within this company and breeds resentment often. - Metrics sometimes are NOT clear, but good luck trying to read the tea leaves of what they expect. You are then punished for not improving enough. You might improve in one sense, but they deemphasize its importance and remind you (as if you didn't know) that your improvements still don't land you in a good enough area metric-wise. - People complain a lot here, but the common refrain, implicit or explicit, is "at least we get paid well." This is true, and the benefits are so good that front-desk staff at doctor's and dentist's offices are often wide-eyed when they look them up. Still, the stress many are under here and the lack of positive reinforcement...is it worth it? Not always. - The "we're all smart and accomplished" vibe is fair, but it gets to be a bit much, a bit of a vibe of arrogance and "win at all costs" feeling. - Your "marching orders" will change quickly and without having time to process such changes. - You will be made to feel like an idiot if you forget managerial directives, even if you did in the moment and hadn't been staring at notes right at that nanosecond. - People are stressed here. They cry in the bathroom. They vent to each other often. I've been in other corporate environments and haven't seen anything like this. There is a reason other reviews also mention a CULTURE OF FEAR. No one should encourage messing up, but the way they discourage it and expect near-perfection is bone-chilling.

4.0
Mar 22, 2026

McMaster - Carr

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

This is a great place to work and grow. Pay is amazing.

Cons

You are put in a position over people who often have much more experience. This creates a strange power dynamic.

Viewing 31 - 33 of 1,354 Reviews

Glassdoor has 1,392 McMaster-Carr reviews submitted anonymously by McMaster-Carr employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if McMaster-Carr is right for you.