The Major Change Coming For Subway Workers
Subway does its best to stand out from the likes of Jersey Mike's and Firehouse Subs by putting an emphasis on "fresh." You don't need us to tell you that Subway loves to rave about its fresh-baked bread that you could top with garden-fresh vegetables or something else along those lines. To better emphasize the supposed freshness of its ingredients, the sandwich chain is now promising that you'll get your meat hand-sliced in-store rather than using pre-cut meat.
According to Restaurant Business Online, Subway plans to add automatic slicers to all of its locations by next summer, although the company plans to begin introducing the slicers this year. By placing the automated slicers up front, the chain hopes customers will be able to see that it's genuinely fresh-sliced meat rather than some "mystery meat." While Subway isn't the first company to show how it prepares its meats – Steak N' Shake had a similar idea of grinding its meat in front of the customers (via Restaurant News) — it appears to be part of a plan to introduce new menu improvements, as well as an attempt to save money by cutting the meat in-house. But it appears that some Subway employees aren't exactly thrilled about the idea.
Some consider it a waste of time
On a Reddit tread dedicated to Subway, some employees seemed to be somewhat bothered by the introduction of slicers. Their concerns seemed to lean towards the idea that having to slice meat will be a waste of their time and work, and also because a slicer may not be compatible in some kitchens. "I manage a subway lol. This is pretty stupid. Most of its work force are teenagers untrained to use slicers. So unless they plan to rebrand the skills it takes to work in one this [expletive] is a disaster waiting to happen," the person wrote. This concern, however, was shot down by the report that minors weren't going to be allowed to operate the slicers.
Other users seemed to be excited by the introduction of the slicers, believing that those complaining about "extra work" were merely whining. Indeed, Subway employees (or at least a certain group of employees) have painted a dark picture of Subway in the past, so those against the idea may already have negative feelings toward the company. It is still yet to be seen how the slicers will work in an actual Subway, but storefronts are expected to slice meat in the morning and evening, rather than upon a customer's order (per Restaurant Business Online).