barista

shift leader

bar staff

store manager

shift manager

Gong Cha

Decent job. Co-workers are usually nice and do their job  It's a good high school/college part-time job. It's pretty flexible job because even if the store is understaffed, they can ask other stores (direct company stores) for coverage, so you don't have to work 20+ hours when you want only 10 hours per week. There's opportunities to grow and get promoted, but one must show effort and consistency in order for that to happen (as they should). 

There's not really anything sketchy about the company ethics, which some may be weary about from a Asian-owned chain store. Cleanliness and product quality is big with the company. Store not only get state-required health inspections, but also conduct their own audits so all procedures and cleanliness is up to standard.

 There are benefits as well. If you get to at least assistant manager level, you can apply for insurance.  You get free drinks and discounts. Raises are far and few because this is more of a minimum wage job. Of course the higher position you get, the higher pay. Company itself has a family dynamic kind of culture, so many are or become good friends with one another. However, each store has their own personality, so beware of which store you apply to.

I had a bad experience working here and do not recommend anyone to try working here if you are interested. You will probably end up quitting anyways, I’ll save your time by saying this. The co-workers here that I had experience with here are very friendly. They will be the only ones that have your back and will teach you everything. Please be nice to the people who train you because they have to multitask while training you. The management sucks and they just throw you into the job without much training. The job requires you to do EVERYTHING all at once. The manager is bipolar too and sometimes don’t allow you to take drinks home even though you literally work here. They barely give you any hours too, I sometimes only get 1-2 shifts a week. You will also find yourself working alone most of the time or with a trainee. It gets really hectic and stressful working alone or even with a trainee when it’s so busy. My coworkers and I have almost cried when dealing with this. We had told the manager, but nothing has been done. I hope I had not missed anything. So basically the only good thing about this job is the great people you will meet (different for everyone though)! 

Co-workers were the only good thing about working here. Management is terrible and they hire managers who don't know how to communicate and listen to the concerns of the co-workers and much less know how to be a manager and manage the store. Store can be in a complete mess right after renovations without prior warning to any workers and they would still be forced to open on time when the place was dirty and disoriented. You can tell your concerns about your manager to the boss but nothing will be done even if she says she will look into it. Sold almost 1000 cups on special holiday occasions/summer in a day? Here's a $10 bonus for your valiant hard working efforts only on xmas, thanksgiving and New Years. Pay is decent if you are in a not so busy location that only sells about 200 cups a day. 

It doesnt matter how hard you work for the store, it will all go unnoticed because all the higher ups are always only looking for ways to stupidfy the store more even if there is no room for anything.

Typical day on weekdays was really slow and easy. Weekends could be really busy and we were usually understaffed (20-22 employees). One time it was just me and a shift lead during a Saturday rush and I wanted to cry because we were backed up by at least 20 orders and had only one functional sealer and no boba.

Unless you 110% get along w/ everyone, shift leads tend to gossip and were really fake. 

They also give employees a written test on the employee handbook (work rules, dresscode, etc) and even if you do fine with making drinks and taking orders, doing badly on the test causes you to get less shifts or the bad shifts which I found ridiculous.

I do like the environment excluding management because we were allowed to play our own music on the ipad and it was very teen/young adult friendly.

Our cup sealers never worked and usually one always broke and had to get replaced, which made rush hours awful if we only had one sealer. The sticker printer would also jam frequently, causing us to miss drinks and become backed up. 

A typical work day, if I am opening the store, includes making tapioca pearls an 1.5 hours in advanced, turning on all electric machines, filling the ice container, checking expiration dates of toppings and cold teas. Count register cash and open till. Throughout the day offer customer service through taking orders in person or on the phone. Assist customers that have issues with their received order in a respectful manner. Clean surfaces throughout day. Effective communication skills in contacting person who is operating kitchen to make certain tea or toppings if we will be running low soon, or contacting manager on low supplies.
Be on feet for most of shift and lift up to 30lbs when new shipment of inventory arrives every month. Follow and memorize directions in making specialty drinks and cleaning equipment. Tell

I recommend working here if you want a chill boba shop job. You get to take customer orders, brew tea, cook boba, and make drinks/food/drink toppings.

Coworkers were chill, for the most part. We got free drinks every shift, with some limitations on what drinks you can get. With time, you can be a shift lead and get paid a bit more. 

You can work as little or as much as you want, which is pretty nice. I know with some jobs, you can get fired for not having enough work availability.

Management was poor and almost non existent, and this reflected on the workers' motivation and performance during shifts. But at the same time, it is nice to have some independence at work.

Ultimately, I quit because of how boring work became. Over time, there was nothing new to learn and shifts would be slow because of a lack of customers. A lot of the coworkers I enjoyed working with were quitting too.

Overall, I enjoyed my time at Gong Cha. 

A lot of co-workers including myself were in highschool or college and just getting their first job here. Rarely was there an experienced individual available that actually knew all the recipes and work that needs to be done, so someone making mistakes with someone else correcting it was common. Pretty much everyone will be responsible for everything at some point. Service can be very fast or very slow, depends on location and hours. Manager only provided enough training for basic tasks and the most popular drinks, but did not inform us of new store promotions or events so we'd be lost when customers ask about them and have to figure it out ourselves. We were also asked to be responsible for counterfeit money despite no training or tools to identify them, and asked to pay back any lost money ourselves.

I will say, while working with gong cha I had a fun time while working, but I experienced a lit of issues, mainly with management, there was a race bias. There was short staff and scheduling issues, they rarely let you healthily balance life and work. I did open-close shifts (13 hrs) 2 times a week and was given issues by management when I got sick with COVID and had to call out for some time  the manager actually called me and told me to 'plan better' as if I could control when I get sick. I also had issues with one coworker who was really mean to me and they didn't take action until the said coworker physically hit me. Overall, I had a nice time working there, we could play music, making drinks was fun, but bad experience with the management of that particular store. 

Worked at Gong Cha Buena Park for 6 months. There has been ups and lows when running a boba franchise. You get the cool workers and bosses. Free drink a day and phones can be used during your shift. The down was weekends customers can be very overwhelming or just complete idiots lol. 

Gong cha didn't really improve any skills besides just being fast past. So if you like to stand around chill and have work sometime. This is the job for you for part time college students or whenever you have free time to work and need a paycheck or 2

Overall pretty chill and relax job. Just be sure you are on top of things when theres rushes and be organizing when its dead. Other than that you will fit into the company culture

I've worked at Gong Cha for four years, and overall have only good things to say. Sometimes the paycheck comes in a few days late and there's definitely a little bit of favoritism, but just as long as you're a good worker who actively wants to work you'll have a good time. 

The managers actually treat their employees like people, taking into account their scheduling requests and are very understanding of personal issues. The schedule is so flexible and they really work with you to find hours that work for you.

I've made lifelong friends working here, you really get the chance to meet some amazing people and you get to trauma bond over insane customers haha. There's never a dull day at Gong Cha, you'll go home with a new story every single day. I'll be so sad when I eventually leave.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Barista 63 salaries reported	$15.64 per hour
Shift leader 12 salaries reported	$16.38 per hour
Bar staff 2 salaries reported	$17.13 per hour
Store manager 2 salaries reported	$56,250 per year
Shift manager 1 salary reported	$14.00 per hour

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