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      Panera Bread

      Engaged Employer

      Panera Bread reviews

      3.4

      49% would recommend to a friend

      (18,762 total reviews)
      avatar

      Paul Carbone

      40% approve of CEO

      32% positive business outlook

      Ratings by category

      3.8

      Diversity & inclusion

      3.2

      Culture & values

      3.2

      Work/Life balance

      3.0

      Career opportunities

      2.9

      Senior management

      2.9

      Compensation and benefits

      Panera Bread has an employee rating of 3.4 out of 5 stars, based on 18,762 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Panera Bread employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Restaurants & Food Service industry (3.4 stars).

      Ratings by demographic groups

      Reviews by job title

      19K reviews
      5.0
      Jun 22, 2014

      Fantastic Management Training *Corporate Owned Locations*

      General manager
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      (I'm speaking of corporate owned locations. Franchises have been known to be quite bad.) - Training is phenomenal, for management and associates - Incredible resources and support from headquarters for cafe managers, the support center will bend over backwards to help you solve any issue. - Some of the best salaries in the industry, including a Joint Venture General Manager program that can push salary into the $100,000 mark. Incredible. Assistant Manager and Shift Manager pay is above average. - Decent benefits. Not great, but better than their competitor's. - Very professional work environment. - Some of the best associate pay in the quick service industry, which means they can hire the best. - Not afraid to terminate / discipline restaurant employees. This is extremely important as poor employees can be infectious and can hurt a restaurant terribly. Panera believes in "trimming the fat", as in removing those employees that aren't moving the company forward. Dead weight or liabilities are simply let go. This is probably the most admirable quality of corporate Panera. They are determined to succeed. - Very clear work expectations and roles. - Company goals are clearly communicated from upper management down to hourly associate. - Very good work/life balance. On an average week, there is no reason management should be working more than 45 hrs per week. - Company spends a lot of money into updating Cafe's with new furniture, BOH equipment, new computer systems, etc. - The CEO is genuine & down to earth. I've seen him speak many times and he doesn't strike me as a typical arrogant CEO. He definitely has a vision.

      Cons

      - I've worked for franchise Panera and all the above PROs do not exist. (That being said, many franchise Panera's outperform corporate in sales and in internal audits). - Work can get repetitive and boring at times - Lots of daily checklists that can seem like a waste of time sometimes - The company's new technology push seems like it's taking the soul out of the company (but may be necessary to keep the company relevant to consumers) - Corporate audits cause a lot of stress to managers and district managers

      2.0
      Oct 1, 2013

      What a shame

      Manager
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      They donate the unsold baked goods to shelters at the close of business. The products used to make the food are high quality.

      Cons

      The upper management of the Covelli Franchises are ruthless and inhumane to their managers and each other. As a manager I was paid for 40hrs a week but never worked fewer then 60, with no additional pay or reward. They were experts at making big promises only to never fulfill them. The crucial point is how unprofessionally they treat their managers, I was cursed at, called on my personal cell phone at all hours of the day and night, expected to make runs to other stores on my own time using my own car and gas without even a tiny glimmer of appreciation. The turnover rate for managers was extremely high, I lasted two years, far longer then most. It wasn't unusual to see a manager break down and walk off the job. Character assassination at it's worst. Finally, the actual food knowledge of the upper management was laughable. A superior of mine was in the location I managed for a quality check, I explained to her the the steam table was running too hot and breaking the soups. She had no idea what I meant.... this was my boss. Ugh.

      1.0
      Aug 21, 2008

      Beware

      Assistant manager
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      Most of the people are very nice to work with, some of the training is good.

      Cons

      A lot of micro management, Head manager does not lead by example. I feel a lot of back stabbing among management going on. I would have to question motives and how competent managent is. Lied about hours work when hiring. They told everyone I talked to that they would work 45 hrs, when 50 hrs or more is required, otherwise you are in trouble. Company does not followed its own mission statement. Do not trust what you hear when interviewing.

      Viewing 22 - 24 of 18,762 Reviews
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      ReviewsPanera Bread reviews

      Glassdoor has 19,059 Panera Bread reviews submitted anonymously by Panera Bread employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Panera Bread is right for you.