6 Cons of Being A Baker

6 Cons of Being A Baker

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Being a baker can seem like a dream job for some people. Who doesn’t love the smell of fresh doughnuts in the morning? You’re always around some of your favorite foods. Baked goods are typically in high demand, especially around the holidays. Many reality shows have played a part in drawing people to the profession. 

Some of the Cons of being a baker are there’s a lot of manual labor, it can be stressful, the hours aren’t regular, it’s a messy job, the pay isn’t great unless you’re running the bakery, and it’s highly competitive.

Manual Labor and Hazards

6 Cons of Being A Baker

While you can become a baker without the expenses of a degree, it does have another expense: The toll it takes on the human body. If you’ve worked in any service industry job, you know that you usually have to stand for eight hours or more depending on your overtime and how long closing takes. This can be taxing and lead to foot and back problems. Some of this can be mitigated by buying good footwear but being a baker is about more than just standing around.

Bakers often have to do a degree of heavy lifting, particularly the ones who are starting at the bottom and have to do a lot of the grunt work. You’d be lifting things like heavy bags of flour. If you’re working at an industrial-sized bakery, some tasks will be automated by machines. However, that often means you might be lifting machines to get them in place or to repair broken parts. For tasks that aren’t able to be handled by machinery, you’ll be doing even heavier lifting in addition to other typical tasks of a bakery. Safety is always a concern at industrial bakeries because, in addition to handling hot food, you also have to navigate your way around the machines which can be hazardous.

By stretching properly and following your workplace’s safety guidelines, you’ll avoid most on-the-job injuries but that doesn’t mean the job will be easy. There will be a lot of wear and tear on your body and it should be avoided if you have pre-existing back problems.

There are less noticeable hazards. As a baker, you’ll probably be doing a lot of repetitive motions like using the rolling pin. This can lead to problems like carpal tunnel syndrome and other repetitive stress injuries. If you’re dealing with things like precision decorating, you may find yourself bending at awkward angles, particularly with layer cakes.

Heat stress is a common hazard in bakeries, particularly in kitchens. Many breads and pastries are baked at hundreds of degrees, often in multiple ovens. This makes the temperature of the room hotter. If you’re working in an industrial bakery, the scaled-up processes and the various machines add to the heat. While you can avoid problems like heat stress by following the safety guidelines and exercising some common sense, working in a bakery is not a job for people who prefer air conditioning and makes manual labor a lot harder.

Finally, there are burns. If you’re working in a kitchen, burns will happen at some point. While adhering to safety protocols will prevent most of them, the risk is always there.

How Much Bakery Owners Make per Month

Stress

6 Cons of Being A Baker

If you think being a baker is an easy job because you’re often surrounded by cakes and cookies all day, think again. Commercial baking is an extremely stressful job. You have to deal with crowds, particularly during the holidays. If you’re working at a specialty bakery, like the kind that makes wedding cakes or cakes for other special occasions, you’re also dealing with tight deadlines. Furthermore, you’re dealing with multiple deadlines at once.

To make matters worse, customers are often demanding. Understandably, they want the cakes for their special day to be perfect but it takes a lot of precision to make that happen.

Working in an industrial bakery can be an even bigger source of stress. It’s often loud, you’re usually required to multitask, and large machines could need fixing at any time. When you’re on the deadlines that industrial bakeries are on it can take a mental toll on you.

The Cost of Outfitting a Bakery

Irregular Hours

The other thing that can take a mental toll on you is the hours. If you’ve ever wondered how bakeries can have fresh bread and pastries on display every morning, it’s because bakers are typically up before dawn doing all of the baking while everyone else is asleep. For some people, this can be good. A lot of people are night owls and would do well with these kinds of hours. However, in certain circumstances, this isn’t ideal even for people who do thrive on late nights. It can be problematic if you’re married and your spouse keeps more conventional hours. If you have kids, this can also be an issue. During the hours your kids are waking up and being loud, you’re probably going to be trying to sleep.

This can also mean missing some big moments in their lives, like sports games. If you’re dealing with a child that needs a lot of extra care during the day While managing the work-life balance these hours create is possible, there will be a lot of tense moments starting.

Family aside, your own body will need time to adjust. Your body will be thrown off its rhythm for your first few days. It won’t be fun, particularly when you have to drive. If you have an aversion to caffeine, you’ll have to get to bed early for this job.

Working in a Bakery is Messy

6 Cons of Being A Baker

If you’re the type of person who likes coming home in clean clothes, you should steer clear of working in a bakery. Coming home covered in sugar or flour is a common occurrence. While this might be one of the more amusing job drawbacks in most cases, it’s important to note that many bakers have to work with food allergens like nuts and may come home with nut particles on their clothes. If you live with someone who has a severe food allergy, or you have severe OCD, being a baker may be a bad idea.

The Ideal Square Footage of a Bakery

The Pay Isn’t Great

One of the constant things is that people need bread and other baked goods. However, the pay rarely reflects this. Many bakers work in retail stores like Walmart or coffee chains like Starbucks which aren’t known for their high rates of pay. or opportunities for advancement. Even independent bakeries have low incomes. On average, bakers make around $27,000 a year.  People working in generic baked goods departments in grocery stores tend to get paid less. People working at high-end bakeries and specialty bakeries may make more money but the highest salaries tend to top out at around $55,000, slightly above the national average for salaries. In short, if you want to be a baker, you’re probably not going to become a millionaire unless you get a large number of affluent clients. 

The other option for making money in baking is to start your own business. On one hand, you’ll be working for yourself rather than someone else,  so you’ll be pocketing the profits. However, this is a major risk. It costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to open a bakery. Plus, it requires a lot more know-how. You can’t rely only on your baking experience to run a bakery. You also have to know about things related to business like marketing and finance. 

Someone who wants to start a bakery with an established brand may want to reach out to some of the bigger chains to start a franchise but this is also expensive and the corporation exerts a large amount of control over the franchisee.

It’s Highly Competitive
6 Cons of Being A Baker

Baking is highly competitive. Consumers who need baked goods have a lot of options, from grocery stores to big chains, to the litany of artisanal bakeries and cafes in every upscale area. There’s a lot of competition and often not a lot of customers to go around. While “try to stand out” is good advice, in some cases, that may not be enough. Like with every business, failure is possible.

While we don’t want to discourage anyone from entering the baking industry, we do want to make sure everyone is clear on the risks involved.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What are some ways to minimize risks of injury on the job?

As always, follow your bakery’s safety guidelines. You’ll get a lot of information on how to carry out your duties during your training  By law, your employer should also have signs warning you of hazards. There are also specialty shoes and other clothes that help relieve pressure when standing for long periods or lifting heavy objects. It may also benefit you to wear a face mask while on the job. Flour is typically in the air and it degrades the air quality.

What are some ways corporations exert control over franchisees?

The companies typically control prices and menu items as well as rates of pay. You do get the benefits of a recognizable brand but you get less creative control.

To learn more on how to start your own bakery business check out my startup documents here

This blog post is provided for informational purposes only. The information contained is not intended to constitute legal advice or to substitute for obtaining legal advice from a qualified attorney.