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Panda Express overview

Industry
Fast Food Restaurant
Revenue
Headquarters
Employees
39,000
Founded in
Website
Organization type
Private
Social media

Panda Express is a hospitality company focusing on American Chinese cuisine, fast food service, and customer satisfaction. Founded in 1983, this California-based industry leader has grown to become an iconic American fast food restaurant chain with more than 39,000 employees and an impressive annual revenue of $100 billion.

The company, led by CEO Andrew Cherng, prides itself on its diverse workforce which includes 56.9% female employees and 54.1% ethnic minorities. The staff has a strong political affiliation with the Democratic Party, and Panda Express employees tend to have relatively short tenures, staying with the company for an average of 2.6 years. Nevertheless, Panda Express remains competitive in the market, offering unique American Chinese dishes that continue to delight customers across the nation.

Panda Express's mission statement

Deliver exceptional Asian dining experiences by building an organization where people are inspired to better their lives.

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3.5/5

Panda Express employee reviews

Based on 31 ratings

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Job openings at Panda Express
4,335 positions

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Panda Express employee reviews

Panda Express employee reviews
3.5/5

Based on 31 ratings

Work at Panda Express? Share your experience.
Employee reviews
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2.0
A zippia user wrote a review on Aug 2024
Pros of working at Panda Express

Good pay for food ($18.50 to $19.50 for starting positions for front/back of house)

Cons of working at Panda Express

Management was awful

Panda Express benefits

Free food

What do you like best about Panda Express's CEO and the leadership team?

The manager was actively trying to replace the entire crew that was currently working

How would you improve Panda Express's culture?

I would like for them to care more about their employees.

How did you prepare for the Panda Express interview?

I didn't really prepare.

How does your compensation at Panda Express compare to the industry average?

They offer many types of insurance, scholarships, and good pay

What's the diversity at Panda Express like?

It was very diverse

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5.0
A zippia user wrote a review on Jan 2024
Panda Express benefits

Respect / Win-Win

Cons of working at Panda Express

Tiredness

Pros of working at Panda Express

Growth in oneself everyday .

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4.0
A zippia user wrote a review on Oct 2023
Pros of working at Panda Express

The opportunity to make connections with customers.

Cons of working at Panda Express

Poor leadership skills from management.

Panda Express benefits

Creating amazing friendships with my coworkers.

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2.0
A zippia user wrote a review on Jul 2023
Pros of working at Panda Express

The thing I like about working there is that I get to meet new people

Cons of working at Panda Express

The thing I do not like about working there is how I am working in hard times

Panda Express benefits

My favorite benefit is maybe the PTO I get when I work certain hours

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4.0
A zippia user wrote a review on Jun 2023
Pros of working at Panda Express

I like fast pace work. Working in fast food helped me work fast paced all the time.

Cons of working at Panda Express

I loved everything at first. However, over time the management went downhill and it just became miserable.

Panda Express benefits

I love that Panda Express offered insurance.

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4.0
A zippia user wrote a review on May 2023
Pros of working at Panda Express

Fast-paced and very diverse, employees from at least 3 different countries each shift. Also, the food was very good and fun to cook.

Cons of working at Panda Express

The dishwashing equipment broke a lot (gloves), and my hands were allergic to the soap.

Panda Express benefits

The free food during breaks was definitely my favorite.

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1.0
A zippia user wrote a review on Apr 2023
Pros of working at Panda Express

The pay was decent for a fast-food job. The work is a lot depending on whether you work in the front or the back.

Cons of working at Panda Express

The management was terrible.

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3.0
A zippia user wrote a review on Mar 2023
Pros of working at Panda Express

Sometimes good schedules. Sometimes good managers

Cons of working at Panda Express

Bad schedules. Bad management

Panda Express benefits

Learned how cook

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3.0
A zippia user wrote a review on Jan 2023
Pros of working at Panda Express

I worked with allot of great coworkers and really loved working there

Cons of working at Panda Express

My manager was constantly putting me down

Panda Express benefits

Food

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3.0
A zippia user wrote a review on Apr 2022
Pros of working at Panda Express

I love to cook

Cons of working at Panda Express

The new manager

Panda Express benefits

Always staying active and making sure my task are done good and properly.

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3.0
A zippia user wrote a review on Aug 2021
Pros of working at Panda Express

The food and the people.

Cons of working at Panda Express

All the drama and Panda Express is very unprofessional.

Panda Express benefits

Bonuses that I received while working there.

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4.0
A zippia user wrote a review on Jul 2021
Pros of working at Panda Express

I liked the hours, I would always get a lot of hours.

Cons of working at Panda Express

There wasn’t much I didn’t like about this job.

Panda Express benefits

Free food & could have worked almost however much I wanted.

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4.0
A zippia user wrote a review on Jul 2021
Pros of working at Panda Express

I liked the hours, I would always get a lot of hours.

Cons of working at Panda Express

There wasn’t much I didn’t like about this job.

Panda Express benefits

Free food & could have worked almost however much I wanted.

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4.0
A zippia user wrote a review on Jun 2021
Pros of working at Panda Express

Pays very well, and encourages moveing up

Cons of working at Panda Express

Very long hours

Panda Express benefits

Scholarships, food, and learning benefits

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4.0
A zippia user wrote a review on May 2021
Pros of working at Panda Express

I was I have been able to become a manager within a year of working. There are opportunities for leadership and continuing your education.

Cons of working at Panda Express

Management is inconsiderate of personal time, The staff members are unreliable.

Panda Express benefits

I am able to work as many hours as I want. There are flexible with my schedule. I love the staff that I work with.

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4.0
A zippia user wrote a review on Feb 2021
Pros of working at Panda Express

They are very flexible with your schedule.

Cons of working at Panda Express

Management didn't seem to want to help me prepare or pushed me for a higher position

Panda Express benefits

Free food

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3.0
A zippia user wrote a review on Jan 2021
Pros of working at Panda Express

Benefits, and good pay

Cons of working at Panda Express

Very demanding on the physical side and availability

Panda Express benefits

Free employee meals and getting benefits

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3.0
A zippia user wrote a review on Aug 2020
Pros of working at Panda Express

I liked learning to cook out of a wok and also the responsibility that it takes to learn and control the night shift at panda expressd

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3.0
A zippia user wrote a review on May 2020
Pros of working at Panda Express

The food is good. I like the cross training experience that i had learn there.

Cons of working at Panda Express

Bad management.

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2.0
A zippia user wrote a review on Apr 2020
Pros of working at Panda Express

Keeps me busy due to fast paced work. Most coworkers are nice and easy to get along with. Good pay.

Cons of working at Panda Express

Management is not good. Not appreciated. Others get away with breaking regulations but I get in trouble if I do it. Treated like garbage.

Panda Express benefits

Good pay

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5.0
A zippia user wrote a review on Nov 2019
Pros of working at Panda Express

The benefits, bonus and health coverage. I was in a car wreck, hospital bill was $19,000 panda health insurance covered all of it.

Cons of working at Panda Express

Sometimes we don’t hire the right people so it’s a process to get them out.

Panda Express benefits

Bonus! Health insurance with great coverage!

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3.0
A zippia user wrote a review on Oct 2019
Pros of working at Panda Express

I like the food and the occasional jokes with coworkers and rewarding feeling of getting everything done

Cons of working at Panda Express

Staying super late hours-midnight or later on busy days, the scrutiny of the company, having to scrub every corner in case upper management comes in, the amount of work piled onto and expected from employees, managers will often only help front and not the back

Panda Express benefits

Free food I guess

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5.0
A zippia user wrote a review on Aug 2019
Pros of working at Panda Express

Benefits, Environment, Motivation, Self-elevation

Cons of working at Panda Express

No work-life balance

Panda Express benefits

Hotel discount

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5.0
A zippia user wrote a review on Apr 2019
Pros of working at Panda Express

Motivation is key when working at Panda Express and you can feel the energy in the employees and how it directly affects the customers.

Cons of working at Panda Express

At times it can be a little too demanding as rush periods get stressful and hectic.

Panda Express benefits

Free Food and company discounts.

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A reddit user wrote a review on Sep 2015
one thing that drives me nuts about panda is when the orange chicken (or any dish) gets to the bottom and they pour in the new batch, they don't get rid of the old dry stuff, they just mix it in. Why not make a commitment to fresh foods?

Well, we're supposed to put old food on top of new food, mix it in a little bit, and serve oldest (closest to us) first. The adherence to the "throw it out if you wouldn't eat it" rule varies by store/manager because it's expensive/time-consuming to make sure the food is mostly fresh. Higher-up managers will say that the food should *always* be fresh, but almost no one--employees or customers--is willing to wait for fresh food and the lines is causes.

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The team at Panda Express

  • The founders of Panda Express are Andrew Cherng, Peggy Cherng and Ming Cherng.
  • The key people at Panda Express are Andrew Cherng, Peggy Cherng and Ming Cherng.
Key people
Andrew Cherng
Peggy Cherng
Ming Cherng

Panda Express rankings

Panda Express is ranked #62 on the Best Hospitality companies to work for in America list. Zippia's Best Places to Work lists provide unbiased, data-based evaluations of companies. Rankings are based on government and proprietary data on salaries, company financial health, and employee diversity.

Read more about how we rank companies.

Panda Express salaries

Average Panda Express salary
$13.46
hourly
$27,988 yearly
Updated March 14, 2024

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Panda Express diversity

9.6
Diversity score
We calculated Panda Express’s diversity score by measuring multiple factors, including the ethnic background, gender identity, and language skills of Panda Express’s workforce.
Panda Express diversity summary. Zippia estimates Panda Express's demographics and statistics using a database of 30 million profiles. Zippia verifies estimates with BLS, Census, and current job openings data for accuracy. We calculated Panda Express's diversity score by measuring multiple factors, including the ethnic background, gender identity, and language skills of Panda Express's workforce.
  • Panda Express has 39,000 employees.
  • 57% of Panda Express employees are women, while 43% are men.
  • The most common ethnicity at Panda Express is White (46%).
  • 31% of Panda Express employees are Hispanic or Latino.
  • 12% of Panda Express employees are Asian.
  • The average employee at Panda Express makes $27,988 per year.
  • Panda Express employees are most likely to be members of the democratic party.
  • Employees at Panda Express stay with the company for 2.6 years on average.

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Panda Express financial performance

9.8
Performance score

Highest paying Panda Express competitors

Compare Panda Express salaries to competitors, including Cafe Services, Panda Restaurant Group, and Chipotle Mexican Grill. Employees at Cafe Services earn the highest average yearly salary of $33,224. The salaries at Panda Restaurant Group average $33,150 per year, and the salaries at Chipotle Mexican Grill come in at $32,507 per year.
RankCompanyAverage salaryJobs
1$33,2240
2$33,1500
3$32,5070
4$31,5640
5$30,8860
6$28,9770
7$28,8560
8$27,3990
9$27,3960
10$27,2700

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Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of Panda Express, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about Panda Express. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at Panda Express. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by Panda Express. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of Panda Express and its employees or that of Zippia.

Panda Express may also be known as or be related to Panda Express, Panda Express Inc, Panda Express Inc. and Panda Express, Inc.