Worst Job I’ve Ever Had - Associate Panera Bread Employee Review

2.0
Feb 12, 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

You get to stuff your face with tons of bagels that get sliced wrong and sip on free drinks all day. You’ll gain $50,000lbs.

Cons

They didn’t pay women and men the same for the same job. I was hired at $7.45 an hour and my male counterparts with equal experience were getting $8.45 and $9.45. You have to work there for years to get any sort of raise. The managers are in and out of there every month or so, and they all want you to do things differently. The machines never work. They give you two pitchers for blenders and in one you can only use almond milk, so essentially you have one pitcher to make every iced coffee drink and smoothie order that comes in which is virtually impossible. The customers are EVIL and management just enables them instead of standing up to them. I had a creepy manager once have some weird fetish for making the girls clean (specifically) the mens bathroom. People would no call no show 24/7 and never get in trouble, leaving the 1-2/15 employees who actually tried to do their job keeping up with the rest of everyone’s slack. The timer in the drivethru was insanely stressful. Managers harped on us getting our times down all the time, no matter if we had a difficult customer come through with $300 order, three cooks not show up, and a broken computer for taking orders. I cried all the time after work from how despicable I was treated. Never again.

Explore other reviews about Panera Bread

5.0
Feb 12, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great job; I spent a long time unemployed but I wish I would’ve kept a job at Panera since high school. This easy going and well playing job would’ve been made my educational journey so much smoother. -free food while you work (save money) - friendly coworkers willing to work as a team - understand and easy going management -easy work - coworkers and managers willing to teach

Cons

- baking shift difficult since you have to come back to production afterward - management tends to get frustrated during the rush - sometimes with the rush you don’t get a break

3.0
Apr 18, 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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