A Terrible Place to Work - Regional Manager McMaster-Carr Employee Review

1.0
30 Mar 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The money and benefits feel like a pro, until you realize that many roles here expect people (particularly management) to regularly work 50 and 60+ hour weeks.

Cons

In my experience, most things about this company were untrustworthy, and the culture is abhorrent. Unless you crave an evil work environment and like being misled, don't work here. Micromanagement, constantly changing directions, lack of clear policy, rapid turnover, generally rude and sometimes inappropriate communication, and a culture of false urgency are things you can look forward to here. Starting from how the recruiters described the opportunity -- there isn't actually much "work-life balance" here. They use that term to encompass the fact that they pay what appears to be a high salary and cover benefits. However, given the micromanagement, frequently changing direction, and high turnover, employees (and especially management) are often volunTOLD to work extra hours. In my experience, after considering the many 60+ hour weeks I worked, the pay was not actually competitive because I was basically working 1.5 jobs and spending 2-3 extra hours commuting. Many leaders feel entitled to their employees' free time because of the high salaries. Management here has very limited leadership expertise as it's a family company in which the final say goes with the owners, and the majority of company leadership have not had meaningful work experiences outside of McMaster-Carr. Many were hired as undergraduates or very early in their careers, so they think the inappropriate and untrustworthy behavior is normal--even aspirational in some cases. If you try to change it, you may find yourself on the chopping block next. The longer you stay here, the harder it is to find a new job because the responsibilities are constantly changing, and individuals are often moved to new roles and teams.

Explore other reviews about McMaster-Carr

5.0
7 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Salary, benefits, coworkers, work/life balance

Cons

micromanagement at every level and job is boring at times

2.0
4 Mar 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good salary, guaranteed bonus, opportunities for overtime

Cons

Management changes constantly, managers are either fresh out of college or have never done your role or both, so I felt like I was managing myself. The metric standards are so high you have to essentially be perfect month after month. The standards are completely unrealistic, robotic, and leave little room for a bad day. There is PTO but you are only allowed to take it if there are “available hours” for that day - everything is about capacity and squeezing out as much work from as many people as possible. Taking time off affects your metrics for the month, which I did not know until after I took my first week-long vacation - they are always looking at your performance in terms of the past year, so I had to try to overwork and correct the bad month I had, when in my opinion your PTO should be completely YOUR time and have no adverse effect. Mentally and physically strenuous, whether you are on the warehouse side or office side - go to the bathroom too many times in a day and it will become an issue - they expect you to be glued to your desk/post. Like I said, no room to be human.

7
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