There's always a long line in the Auditorium around lunchtime – and often outside of lunchtime as well. Subway is incredibly popular with students (and employees). Manager Amanda Brouwer and colleagues Thiara Aaboubouch, Guichel Cecilia, and Nymphaea Leung work through that line as quickly as possible to get everyone a sandwich.

What time do you clock in?

"This varies per colleague and per shift," explains store manager Brouwer. "The first person arrives around 8 AM, the last leaves around 4 PM."

What exactly does your job entail? 

Every day, 180 whole loaves of bread, each 30 centimeters long, are used. Around 210 customers are served daily. "In the morning, we prepare the vegetables, cheese, and meat, and bake the bread and the cookies," says Brouwer. "At 10 AM, the first customers are already at the counter and from then on we're making sandwiches, salads, and wraps non-stop."

What led you to this job?

Brouwer always wanted her own sandwich shop. "When I started working here four days a week in 2022, I grew in my role very quickly. Not long after, I was given the opportunity to become a manager because things were going so well. I'm very proud of that, especially since I didn't have any specific management background. I'm glad I succeeded and I also see how quickly my colleagues are developing here."

What's the best part of your job?

The customer contact everyone loves most. "And working together with my family," adds Guichel Cecilia. Brouwer is his manager, but also his aunt. Isn't that difficult? "Here, my aunt gives the orders; outside of work, it's the other way around," he jokes, his eyes mischievous. Brouwer laughs. "The humor we have here just makes work so much fun."

Colleague Thiara Aaboubouch, also Brouwer's niece, nods. "And Nymphaea Leung also became part of the family; we just consider her our adopted niece." Leung nods. "I really have a great team."

Aaboubouch appreciates that many customers come daily. "For some, I even know by heart what they always order and which vegetables they like and dislike. Haha." The most popular sandwich? Chicken Teriyaki.

And the least enjoyable part?

Apparently, there's little to mention. Yet, Cecilia found something. "Getting up. Why is that always so early?!" His colleagues laugh. "And waiting for the delivery. I'd rather just be busy making sandwiches for the customers."

When you're a customer standing in line, the work of the Subway employees can seem quite hectic: taking orders, cutting open and filling sandwiches, putting them in the oven, taking the next order, and the oven already beeps again. Opening the oven with one hand while the other hand is busy filling the next sandwich. Leung laughs. "It was a lot in the beginning, but luckily they patiently taught me everything. On day 1, I just had to put the vegetables on the sandwich. On day 2, I learned how to put the meat on the sandwiches. Everything in small steps."

Brouwer nods. "And it doesn't get any faster than this. Hopefully, people see that too. We work as hard as we can and just want to provide everyone with a sandwich for lunch as quickly as possible." 

What's the craziest thing you've ever experienced here?

"It's the unusual orders we sometimes get," says Brouwer. "All the different sauces on one sandwich, for example. Or fish and meat combined. But hey, the customer is king."

What time do you clock out?

"Around 4 PM. The shop closes to the public around 2:30 PM, and then everything has to be neatly tidied up and cleaned for the next day," says Aaboubouch.

What do you do off the clock?

Cecilia laughs and rubs his head. "I like going to the hairdresser. And to just chill with friends." His niece Aaboubouch also enjoys seeing her friends, preferably at a cafe. And she has a special hobby: driving around in her Batmobile, a classic car she cherishes.

Leung's face lights up when she thinks about what she'll be doing after work: "Gaming with my brother, beating him at Super Smash Bros," she says proudly.

Team leader Brouwer doesn't have much free time, she realizes when asked what she likes to do after clocking out. "I have a son who I love spending time with; we recently even built a swimming pool in the garden! And I have two dogs that I often take out for walks, of course. I really enjoy that."