Crew Member - Anonymous employee Five Guys Employee Review

2.0
11 Sept 2015
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Met some amazing friends and have a lot of happy memories of working with them. I guess the free food on shift although that gets pretty old pretty quickly. Fortnightly pay. The odd secret shopper bonus when you get it. Also, if you're lucky and you get one manager (out of 5 or 6) who actually treats you like a human being. A very, VERY hard job with a lot of stress and pressure from management so is quite a character shaping experience. You will lose weight from the sheer amount of activity required from you. Pay is minimum. Expectations are very high, rules are very strict. Will get a verbal warning for the smallest of things. It's very dictatorship-ish.

Cons

Managers see staff as disposable cattle. Use fear tactics to motivate staff. Lure you in with this super fake, super calculated attitude of 'Five Guys is super chill! We love our crew! We always have fun!' and then doesn't actually care about you as a person. Getting holiday or even a day off is a real struggle. Trying to get management to cooperate with you on anything is like trying to get blood from a rock. LONG shifts, where you're expected to work for 8 hours on the line and then another 4 hours deep cleaning, or just 10-11 hour shifts of being there for the entire day doing the same thing. Super shady about some things. You don't actually get a proper copy of a contract, just a 'handbook'. All the contracts are 0 hours regardless of whether you're part time or 'full time'. Most of the time they abuse this and give you 50+ a week. Sometimes you have to work 6+ days in a row with no day off. Only get a half an hour break even on 12+ hour shifts despite the 'handbook' saying you're supposed to have more. The red shirt to grey shirt system is so micromanaged, it seems super fake and just like a money making pyramid business scheme these days than anything actually to do with the burgers. It's super super fake.

Explore other reviews about Five Guys

5.0
5 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great environment. Lots of hamburgers available.

Cons

None that I can think of.

4.0
1 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

They will teach you everything you need to be successful. They have much higher standards than most places, one of the few places I'd have no problem eating at any location. They'll make sure you have everything you need to meet those standards, especially once you get to a management level. They have corporate trainers and the GM at my location was also great. I'm a GM at a different place now and my experience here left me well prepared me for that position.

Cons

Pay. That's the only reason I left, I would have stayed with the company if I could have gotten a raise and I would definitely return if they offered something comparable to what I'm making elsewhere.

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