Good entry level job, Not for Career path - Associate Panera Bread Employee Review

3.0
23 July 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

For the most part, those who work there are very friendly and will help you out if you're having an issue at work or will notify a manager or someone that can help. The break time and food discount is pretty decent an Management has improved.

Cons

This is not a career type job. They pay minimum wage for what feels like a full time job, and the hours will fluctuate drastically due to the high turnover rate. The biggest problem with this so far is that there are too few trainers and too many trainees, so no one really gets trained like they'er supposed to and will often feel lost in what ever it is that they are doing. I understand that call outs are difficult to cover, but for those people who rarely call out for reasons beyond their power ( Sick with a cold/flu or family in the hospital/death) there is absolutely no justification for you when you try to make us feel bad and come into work anyway. "Sick is sick" and "if you're sick, stay home" remember? You're running a restaurant/cafe? If the staff is sick, they can't be working around FOOD as that is in fact a FOOD CONTAMINATION RISK and a Health risk to the other staff members and the customers coming in.

Explore other reviews about Panera Bread

5.0
25 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great people with good morals and values. Fun work environment. Great food fresh ingredients.

Cons

Be careful not to burn yourself while baking bread. Can gain a lot of weight eating bread 😆

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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