Pros
The greatest thing about my job was receiving three weeks of vacation because I was there for over five years. I had a very flexible schedule and was able to work full time while go to college full time and still graduate. The people I got to work with are amazing and the customers even more amazing! Loved everything about the job except what corporate was doing to make the profitability higher.
Cons
A couple of years ago corporate decided to take our two annual raises of 2% and cut them down to one 3% a year. You can easily figure up how much money you lost in one year. They cut out all time and a half holidays for the cafes. Then they sent out an email saying how much millions of dollars it saved the company, While remaining one of the profitable restaurants in the industry!!! When I started at Panera back in 2005 they had the mentality to treat and pay employees better so they provide the best service possible. That all held true until about 2010. Now employees can make just as much at Mcdonalds as they can at Panera, and not work near the standards that Panera holds to their employees, any motivation? Nope.