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- Panera Bread currently employs around 140,000 people.
- Business Insider spoke to a handful of these employees about what it’s like to work at the national fast-casual chain.
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Panera Bread employs thousands of people across the country.
But what is it like to work at this bread-centric national fast-casual chain?
Business Insider spoke with a number of current and former Panera Bread employees.
They gave us the details on the best and worst parts of working at the restaurant chain, from supportive coworkers to the chaotic drive-thru process.
Here’s what the employees had to say:
Best: Working in a tight-knit atmosphere
Jeffrey Greenberg/UIG via Getty Images
Four Panera Bread employees praised the restaurant’s supportive, team-oriented atmosphere, citing their coworkers as the best part of the job.
"We are a team and we support each other like family," one employee said. A different worker said that their fellow employees were mostly "competent" people who "operated at a high standard."
In at least one case, these close bonds outweigh workplace stressors.
"I have only stayed at Panera because I love my coworkers," a third employee said.
Worst: Dealing with rude customers
John Gress / Reuters
"Just like any customer service job, dealing with people who are simply angry at the world is never fun," one Panera Bread employee told Business Insider. "I don’t feel like I’ve done my job if you don’t leave my café feeling satisfied and it’s hard to accomplish that when someone doesn’t want to leave feeling satisfied."
A total of seven employees said that negative interactions with customers were the worst part of the gig.
"If I never work in the food industry again, it’ll be too soon," one employee said.
A different employee added, "People can be really hurtful. You just have to cry it out in the bathroom and move on."
One employee questioned the restaurant’s adherence to the mantra "the customer is always right."
"Nine out of ten customers I served at Panera were fantastic and either caused no problems or were very nice and pleasant to us," the employee said. "One out of 10, however, were quite nasty and rude, and were only rewarded by their behavior from management."
The employee explained that these diners would often take advantage of the restaurant by making minor or false complaints to management. They described an encounter with one drive-thru customer who demanded both a refund and a free new meal after making a "trivial complaint" about their $90 order.
"This caused us to have 30-minute ticket times for some people behind this person — who refused to move," the employee said. "Instead of our managers telling them to buzz off, we ended up causing lots of our good customers to wait extreme amounts of time."
Best: Learning how to handle conflict
Jeff Roberson/AP Images
There is one significant upside to juggling angry customers, busy kitchens, and the chaos of the lunch rush, according to two employees.
"As a younger employee, Panera has taught me how to deal with people yelling at me," one worker told Business Insider.
A different employee said that their "customer service skills have skyrocketed" thanks to the restaurant.
"I have learned really valuable problem-solving skills, and I have been given the opportunity to learn and grow as a leader in ways I never expected," the employee said.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
See Also:
- Panera Bread employees share the worst and weirdest things they’ve seen on the job
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- Panera employees share their tips for saving time and money at the chain
SEE ALSO: Panera employees share their tips for saving time and money at the chain
DON’T MISS: Everything Panera Bread employees want to tell you but can’t
SEE ALSO: Panera Bread employees share the worst and weirdest things they’ve seen on the job
Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (Áine Cain)