"Working as an everything, when I signed up for baker." - Associate Panera Bread Employee Review

2.0
31 Jan 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Food is wonderful. - Employees are kind. - Pretty much it. - Discounts are great. - Training discounts are nice - Training itself, pretty okay

Cons

- Managers are hard to deal with: One was very aggressive, Another was always mentally absent, Another would never address the problem and just gossip behind another's back, and the last one would have a horrible attitude. - Training is only helpful when employees are involved, when Managers are involved they think you'll soak up the knowledge like a sponge. - Managers don't take advantage of their security system, and only base their inquiries and your performance on what they're presently seeing at the moment. (Ex: A manager walks into work complaining you don't interact enough, when you've been interacting for the past five hours and decided sweep the floors in the back, where no one is.) - Very unprofessional Managers, would yell at you, insult you, call you names. - If you're alone, without the help of any employees, they'd make you mix drinks, answer phone calls, and handle more than one register at the same time, while expecting "speed, efficiency, and quality." You'd do jobs you weren't assigned for. - They would watch you, and practically breath down your neck if you're not doing anything, even if there's nothing left for you to do based on what you're assigned to do during the day. - They want you to communicate the problem with them, even though such communication would get someone fired. - You're trained for everything under the sun: Dining/Dishes, Barista, Cashier, Food-line, Trash, etc. etc. etc. and are only payed one dollar above minimum wage. If you know your worth, being trained this much, and doing this much work, isn't only 9.50 an hour. - If you aren't fast enough for them, they pull you aside and put you only for dining room, reduce your hours, and reduce your chances of a good pay. - Doesn't seem like a very good job for those with no prior experience, stressful if you're in college. Rules contradict lots of the time, and the cashier system is rather complicated to learn in only 3 days. - Expect too many "Authentic" feelings from a person who just wants a job: They hassle you about talking to your customers like you'd talk to your mother, but that isn't realistic, and anyone at entry level isn't going to feel anything towards a stranger, won't feel "passionate" about a simple part-time job, and simply wants to get some money and experience.

Explore other reviews about Panera Bread

5.0
24 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good customers, pay, and opps

Cons

None at this time yo

3.0
18 Apr 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

GM at this location is very on top of things, because it's the busiest Panera in Queens. Consistent hours. Shifts go by very quickly, especially in the morning.

Cons

Location is extremely busy so it gets very stressful, especially in the morning when someone is out / there is no second cashier scheduled so the single cashier in the morning has to clean the coffee counter, refill coffees, make drinks, stick bagels in the oven & serve those bagels, check and bag up RPU/delivery orders, get bakery items for barista screen, and ring up customers. It can get really intense when many people come in, which is most of the time. You will be running back and forth like crazy. Customers can be impatient, rude, demeaning, and nasty when the line gets too long. Not recommended for people who are sensitive, with high anxiety. As for Panera the company, this chain keeps making bizarre and difficult changes to the menu, all of which make employees' lives harder and harder. With every change comes strange, dismaying, and borderline impossible expectations for frontline staff that cascade down through management who cannot do much to alter the hard policies. You can tell the company is struggling greatly to keep itself relevant with the younger crowd (a solid 80% of customers are old people). The CEO and everyone making company decisions at Panera is extremely out-of-touch. EXTREMELY. With every nonsensical menu & operations adjustment, you can tell these people haven't actually worked at a food service job in like 40 years.

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