Pros
Panera has a "No Jerks" policy. Fair treatment is usually the way of things. Freedom of shift time within reason. There is a great system set up for getting everything done in a night. (provided all equipment is functioning properly) You become very good at managing multiple timers and high production volume, work is exercise. One of the bonuses as a Night Baker is free lunch within reason and being able to work with music and solitude and focus, you have free range to make it fun for yourself, so long as every thing is done before 4 A.M. Pay is decent enough to catch some extra hours and pay necessary bills. day time availability is open depending on your ability to manage your sleeping hours during the day.
Cons
You often will not have time to eat lunch on the clock, especially near holidays, which may complicate your family life balance at times. If you have young children they will see you as exhausted more often than not, or sleeping, and you are able to be present when they need you but sleep loss and lack of sun exposure becomes a toll on health. On pay, some of the men started with higher wages at the choice of the baking manager-which is a different manager from the store manager, and as it is not "polite" to discuss ones salary, and you are often working solo except for in rare cases of doubled workload, it's difficult to discover differences in pay rate. If a preceeding baker did not set up the necessary prep, you always have to show up a bit earlier to cover what they missed. There is also little room to move up in the company from a baking position. There are only two spots above a Night Baker for a potential promotion, and that is often based on a regional manager's choice. despite any cons to the company, it was still a great place to be apart of and if day time baking were possible, I'd go for baking with them again.