“Welcome to Subway. What can I do for you?”
The first thing that strikes you while standing in line for the EMU’s Subway is the seamless transition of the sandwich-making process. It’s like a well-oiled machine, with employees smoothly moving to replace each other as they slide from task to task. From bread and cheeses, to toasting, vegetables and dressing, it’s obvious to the waiting audience that this crew has been battle-hardened by the hundreds of students who buy subs on a daily basis.

According to assistant manager Jamey Jannsen@@Not able to find this name@@, this Zen-zone of sandwich production is rarely achieved. As a three-year Subway veteran who works 40 hours a week or more, he’s one of the most experienced workers on a staff that sees a fairly significant turnover rate.
“We hire most of our employees in the fall. This year we hired nine, last year 12,” Jannsen explains. The average new hire then takes roughly a month to get up to speed. “It’s practice. It’s knowing what you need before you need it.”
Jannsen, a 24-year-old former student who plans on studying at Lane Community College next term, is in his element behind the the counter. Collar popped and arms flying, he’s everywhere at once, a whirling dervish of sub production. “You gotta use all four extremities in this job,” he says. Whistling along to The Eagles’ hit “Hotel California,” he effortlessly fills the ice machine and breaks down cardboard boxes. “This song is such a great song, but it’s just too long.”
Of the six or seven employees who work the sandwich line per shift, Jannsen works the workline’s “runner” position. The runner’s tasks range from fetching fresh bread, meats and vegetables from the back, answering the phone, troubleshooting technical difficulties, stocking the ice machine — and actually making subs. When asked how he copes with the workload, he laughs. “You just have to be able to multitask.”
As the line grows longer, snaking around back and forth in front of the restaurant, Jamey moves from ferrying ingredients from the walk-in cooler to working the veggies. Slapping lettuce, tomatoes, spinach and pickles on a six-inch sub, he greets and chats with the customers and jokes with the regulars.
“Don’t need to say nothin,’ do I?” one bespectacled gentleman remarks as Jannsen begins prepping a sub without prompting. “I’m a known entity.”
Moments later, Jannsen’s handyman abilities get called to the forefront. “The cashier’s drawer’s stuck shut,” he confides as he searches for a chisel in the crowded back room. “This should work.” After jimmying with the draw for a few seconds, he manages to pop it open with the sharp instrument. “Boo-ya!”
After a hour or so, the rush begins to die down and everyone gets a breather. Jannsen and fellow three-year employee Owen Sieber@@not able to find name@@ proudly display the numbers from today’s lunch rush. Eleven a.m. to noon: 98 subs. Noon to 1 p.m.: 100 subs. One p.m. to 2 p.m.: 106 subs.
“Monday through Friday, we serve between 650 and 700 (students). Saturday-Sunday, maybe 200 to 300,” Jannsen said.
This particular day’s work, 304 subs in little over 2 1/2 hours, has special significance. “Depending on our productivity, we get bonuses.” Jannsen reveals. “Basically, for any three-hour (time) chunk when we (maintain) productivity of 15 subs produced per employee per hour, we get an additional dollar per hour for the entire day.”
In layman’s terms, if each employee produces 45 subs over a three-hour period, the entire team gets a single dollar tagged on to their hourly wage. If Subway makes more than $3,300 in a day, a second bonus kicks in an additional dollar. So, theoretically an employee can make an extra two bucks an hour if the unit works hard.
“We get the bonuses three, maybe four times a week,” Jannsen explains. “Definitely three times a week, on average.”
After ten minutes or so, it’s back to business as usual.
“The line doesn’t stop from, like, 10:50 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. It never stops,” says Sieber. “We always get railed right after classes get out. Boom — it’s like Pearl Harbor.”
Despite the endless lines and countless numbers of hungry students, Jannsen and the rest of the Subway team manage to keep the line flowing surprisingly quick. One particular Spicy Italian footlong clocked in at 3:36 minutes from construction-to-sale.
“That’s slow,” Jannsen says when confronted with the time. “We aim for two minutes. An experienced worker can make a sub in under two.”@@what if I take my time with what I want on my sandwich?@@
Despite his skills in the sub-making industry, Jannsen doesn’t see his future perfecting delicious sandwich combinations. After three years of changing majors without a career path, the Gresham native plans on getting the remainder of his general education credits out of the way at LCC before transferring to the University.
“I’m going back to school to study chemistry and physics,” he says. “I want to one day open a brewery.”