delivery driver

retail sales associate

shift leader

shift manager

team member

Donatos Pizza

Just a complete failure of leadership from the top down.  Nepotism is rampant, no room to move or grow unless you are somehow related or are part of the club.  There are so many contradictory actions- cannot date your direct reports, unless your Daddy owns the company.  Don't believe what the shiny robot woman says in the commercials, not every piece is important- just the money piece.  Not your family, just THE family, your manager will have no problem expecting you to work an 18-20 hour day, if it means they don't have to actually do their job.  Forget your actual family, as long as you cut labor or whatever element is important this month.  DO NOT show signs of weakness or vulnerability, there are back biting sharks in the Donatos water, they will chomp down on you and claim that they are helping.  Helping to elevate themselves, standing on your back.  Asking for any type of help or assistance, as a store manager, is just the type of vulnerability that exposes your weakness and will give your direct supervisor a way to weasel you out of any meaningful direction.  

It is customary to shat all over long term, dedicated employees no matter what level- long term driver? Happy taking deliveries and answering the occasional phone? Lets take some of your pay away, Donatos will pay you the absolute minimum they are legally allowed to, they would pay you less but its illegal.  Even though this may be your first job and you are 2nd generation and you have managed to take THOUSANDS of deliveries, over multiple decades completely accident free. Witnessed this first hand, had to be the one to explain to a very dedicated employee that they were losing benefits and money.  

All of the sh*tty things that this company does to people under the guise of being some form of asset to whatever community.  Their charity does not begin at home, inside every store you drive by there is some one struggling.  Struggling to live and thrive, all the while some one above them is standing on their neck telling them to "GET UP AND GET BACK TO WORK!"  

Basically, store level management is indentured servitude.  You will be told by the shiny robot woman that there is room to grow and achieve your highest potential and find your passion in serving others.  The reality is- you'll barely have time to go to the bathroom in peace.  As a grown person, look anywhere else for a restaurant management job, I'm begging you....anywhere else will provide the fulfillment and joy we restaurant managers get in serving customers and employees.  Anywhere else will lift you up and provide unconditional support.  

To the teens or first time job seekers, you will have fun but do not become indoctrinated by the shiny robot woman.  Use them as much as they use you, every benefit offered take full advantage of it- meal plan, employee discount, gift cards etc.

I have almost nothing to say about Donatos that isn't good, even though I was involuntarily terminated. The worst part about Donatos is that they don't pay their employees what they deserve, but i think that's because Donatos tried to cut costs there to purchase higher quality ingredients. The benefits really sucked. Like the insurance was laughable, and a complete wast of time and money. You'd be better off not having it at all in reality. The final part was the work schedule. I can personally say I don't mind a varying work schedule, but you literally had to check it every single week, because it would NEVER be the same. And there were many occasions in which a "I can not work this time frame because of *blank*" was thrown out the window, and it'd be your responsibility to get the shift covered. And if you every volunteered to do a messy, or special job, it became your responsibility weekly to complete that, even if you were only do it to help out for some reason.

Beyond that though, the work environment was clean, and fresh, and easy going. There were some issues every now and again but that was normally caused by an immature teenager that didn't want to be there anyways. The customer were fairly nice and easy to work with. The management was very professional, and actually jumped in and helped with standard business along with secondary duties which was awesome to see. The actual corporate management actually took value in the individual stores too and checked in on them pretty often. The product that we used was always kept fresh and immediately gotten rid of if it passed it's expiration date.

Working for Donatos' was different than any other.  When I applied, I wondered if they were successful.  I had never heard of them, since I am from NC.  I learned that once I started and saw that this pizzeria knew exactly what they were doing!  They have the freshest dough and ingredients.  They knew it took labor to make their business successful, so they compensated on an average basis.  Donatos' did have more than 2 managers on duty though.  As an assistant manager at Donatos' Pizzeria, I got a first hand look at the pizza delivery system.  I loved the fact that their district supervisors always had the time for you and to clearly take the time to help when necessary.  Donatos' always had a round table discussion for the managers to give their thoughts, suggestions and comments.  You actually felt like you had some ownership other than your title.  Most days the manager's worked along side the crew to ensure quality standards were met to specifications.  We helped the driver's route their deliveries for time management sake.  We were in charge of the ordering, inventories and all cash handling from tills and drivers.  There really wasn't anything hard about the job.  The training was done on site.  You took your knowledge and their in house training.  The most enjoyable part about the job was the comradery.  There was always 3-4 managers together at one time.  We worked well together.  We all oversaw areas and each had tasks to complete separately.  We ultimately had common goals to achieve for the welfare of our company.

The basic duties in the store is relatively easy, and even as a manager, tasks are simple and achievable so long as you manage time efficiently. Pay seems to be just enough to be competitive, with a general lack of ability to achieve raises or bonuses. Raises usually only happen upon promotion, and bonuses are only available to salary managers and granted on the contingency of a nearly uncontrollable sales increase. Corporate tends to normally not inform us of developments within the company. For example, there have been multiple instances of a new menu item launching without our notice until the day of its launch. The company's "promises" to customers are heavily reliant on how much upper management actually cares, and sometimes it just doesn't seem like we collectively care about anything. Quality assurance is lacking, and while we are willing to help customers who have issues, we don't do much to ensure satisfaction before it reaches the customer. The store collectively seems to care less for ensuring our customers to be satisfied and more to just get through the day as if it was just another job. The running joke amongst my friends (which most have quit for better jobs) is that we are simply corporate drones, property of the board of directors. It's truly a depressing reality given all of the corporate promotion we receive during training, talking of the "promises" we have and how we are qualitatively superior.

The job, for the most part, is simple enough. Some parts can be complicated, but it just requires memorization and practice. I was hired extraordinarily quickly. Getting lots of hours was never an issue. The job I found mildly enjoyable, however it is extraordinarily repetitive. When fully staffed, the job isn't very stressful, however, when I worked at that store, it was nearly constantly understaffed. 
Fridays are almost always mandatory to work. 
The starting pay was exact minimum wage, and the raises were slow and miniscule. 
The management at that store at the time I worked there was sub-par to say the least, they would oftentimes offload some of their responsibilities they didn't like doing onto me, and weren't professional when they needed to be. The atmosphere is very friendly and casual, but that sometimes interfered with the store running efficiently. 

All that being said, looking back on it now after having left it over a year ago, it wasn't an awful experience. The parts that were terrible were usually related to managers and coworkers.
I wouldn't recommend working at the level I did full time like I did for around a year, but as a part time job or an in-between job, it is good.

Aside from busy weekends, a typical day consisted of fast paced working at any given station or moment, or the environment would be slow/dead.
What I learned primarily, was to stay strong and not to be afraid of communicating with others, especially if you have any type of issue.
The management at my location, business wise, was good; with its workers though, it could be very poor, relationship wise.
Many of the managers show favortism in certain associates, enough so that I have witnessed other associates allowed a break or on their phones at the workstation, while I did all the work. It is because of this that gossip is spread around in a supposedly professional environment, which could personally make you feel quite unsafe; rumors could be spread, tension could be created, you could even be bullied. 
By far, the hardest part of the job, was dealing with the overall culture of the workplace. I felt unsafe and disrespected despite working so hard. There were only a few people I felt I could trust with even simple complaints. Otherwise, any legitimate problem I had, would be ignored. 
The most enjoyable part, ironically, was the customers. Many of them were easy to talk to, and were understanding.

Prep Veggies,prepare store, set up bank deposits;
( list of prep is very long, basically you do it all)

I learned the history of the company

Management, hmm, well there was 1 manger (upper) who actually cared. Everything fell on her shoulders, but she got yelled at and disrespected by her manager constantly. There was a manager who has worked there for a long time,we all know he was stealing money, but nobody would take any action. Then there was the store manager that NEVER GREETED ANY OF THE EMPLOYEES when he came in. He threw things, yelled constantly, and acted like he was miserable and hated his job. 

Co-workers- they were mostly teenagers. Some of the kids did a great job, the ones who wanted more responsibility(besides answering the phones) were never given the chance because they were always short staffed. 
Most of the drivers were awesome.

The hardest part of the job was keeping the employees from just walking out; they were underpaid and overworked.

The most enjoyable part of the job, was making a work day brighter for the co-workers and the older customers.

Upper management (CEO) should read all of the reviews and realize there is definitely a problem with the management.

It was fun working there because i like the people there and making pizzas was fun but the other managers there are really lazy and don’t really like to help out a lot so the rest of us ended up getting stuck with a lot of the shifts workload and they sit in the office all day. also when you would request days off or change your availability they would forget and still schedule you for those days and be calling you asking where you were at. the general manager is also quite racist and the most lazy worker in there. there where also times when managers wouldn’t show up and i would have to call the corporate office asking if someone was coming and there were times where managers would walk out in the middle of their shift because of how the general manager was treating them but they offer 401k and bad insurance when you get full time. :)

If your not a general manager your hours are whatever you can work as long as they have a position for those hours. Most stores need nights and weekends. It’s not a bad job, it’s actually pretty easy. However it is stressful.. general managers at most locations are tired and stressed. ( depends if you work at a franchise or Corp location) also if your not the general manager don’t count on working full time because that won’t happen, even as a shift lead or an assistant you won’t reach 40 hrs.  Drivers don’t make bad money, depending on the location most drivers can bring home $200 on a good night in tips. You do have to use your own car though. Pay also depends on position. Definitely not competitive there and that all depends if you apply at a franchise or corporate location because they all are different. All in all it’s not a bad place to work for they genuinely care about there employees..

Donatos was my first “corporate” job—and now, over a decade later, I still reflect on it with deep appreciation. At the time, I was a single mother of three, doing my best to figure out what work-life balance even meant. I was a bit of a hot mess, honestly, just trying to make it all work.

Looking back, what stands out most is the culture and leadership. They were truly unmatched. There was a positive energy in the “Home Office” (as they preferred to call it) that created a ripple effect throughout the entire organization. The business was run with integrity, grace, and a thoughtful kind of accountability that didn’t just shape you professionally—it guided you to grow personally as well.

Moving on from Donatos gave me the chance to spread my wings, but it also gave me perspective. I now hold deep gratitude for having had such an inspiring company as my first big job experience. They set the bar incredibly high for what I expect from an employer—and to this day, that bar has yet to be met.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Delivery driver 268 salaries reported	$13.80 per hour
Retail sales associate 148 salaries reported	$12.26 per hour
Shift leader 139 salaries reported	$14.74 per hour
Shift manager 80 salaries reported	$14.82 per hour
Team member 60 salaries reported	$11.48 per hour

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