Pros
When I first started working for Panera, they cared for their employees, were willing to work around/have flexible schedules so was great for when I was in school, they would allow closers to take home a few bakery items (also great for those in school), encouraged you to work hard by offering incentives, raises, and opportunities to advance, and really, it felt like a second family. It wasn't all rainbows and gumdrops, but what job is?
Cons
However, the past couple years has seen a change in the Panera structure. Individual stores may be different, but in my last store....here is what happened. With the additions in how to order, and table delivery, one person ends up doing the work of 2-3 people, especially during rushes...I was exhausted and crashed for hours at the end of each shift, which caused my GPA to drop as I was too tired to study (it makes it worse when other employees don't carry their weight). Incentives slowed, some even stopped. They still encouraged advancement, but unless you could be there at any time and are a management favorite, you don't have much of a chance. The final blow for me was my last semester of college, the management became much less flexible with scheduling, which meant I would have been only able to work 1 day a week...so I found a new job who were happy to work around my schedule.