Quick answer: Most Jersey Mike's locations hire starting at 16, though this varies by store and state since every location is independently franchised. Pay for crew members typically runs 13 to 18 dollars an hour depending on location and experience. Apply directly through the official careers page or in person at your local store, not through a corporate hiring office.
Jersey Mike's operates over 3,000 locations, and every single one is independently owned and run by a local franchisee. That single fact explains almost everything about how hiring works here: age requirements, pay, and even the interview process are set store by store rather than dictated from a national headquarters. If you have looked up "Jersey Mike's careers" and found conflicting answers, that inconsistency is not a mistake in the reporting, it is how the business is actually structured.
Openings are fairly consistent from store to store, even though pay and scheduling differ. Here is what you will typically find listed:
The entry-level role. Covers prep, register, and sandwich building. Most new hires start here regardless of age, and move into slicing once they are old enough and trained on it.
Runs the floor during a shift when a manager is not present. Usually filled by promoting an experienced team member rather than hired from outside.
Handles scheduling, ordering, and day-to-day operations under the general manager. Some franchise groups hire this role externally with restaurant experience required.
Runs the store's daily business, staffing, and numbers. Often a longer-term promotion path, sometimes with a route toward owning a franchise down the line.
There is no single national minimum age, and that is not a gap in reporting, it reflects how franchise ownership works. Jersey Mike's Franchise Systems does not directly employ store staff or set hiring policy for individual locations, each franchise owner manages their own staffing decisions in line with their state's child labor laws.
Based on current and former employee reports on Indeed and Glassdoor, the pattern looks like this:
| Age | What's typical |
|---|---|
| 14 to 15 | Occasionally reported, usually with a work permit through a school program, and not common |
| 16 | The most frequently cited minimum age across employee reports |
| 18 | Commonly required to operate the meat slicer and to run a shift unsupervised, even at stores that hire younger for other tasks |
The practical takeaway: if you are 16 or older, you are very likely eligible to apply at most locations. If you are 14 or 15, it is worth calling ahead or checking with the specific store rather than assuming, since it comes down to that franchisee and your state's youth employment rules.
Pay estimates vary noticeably depending on the source, which makes sense once you account for state minimum wage differences, tipping norms at some locations, and the fact that every store sets its own pay independently. Rather than pick one number and present it as gospel, here is what multiple wage-tracking sources show as of 2026:
| Source | Reported hourly range |
|---|---|
| Glassdoor (crew member) | $15 to $21, averaging around $18 |
| Indeed (crew member) | Averaging around $15.57 |
| ZipRecruiter | $8.17 to $17.55, averaging around $13.61 |
| PayScale | Averaging around $14.88, up to roughly $21.68 reported |
Taken together, a realistic expectation for a new crew member is somewhere in the 13 to 18 dollar range per hour, trending toward the higher end in states with higher minimum wage floors or in markets with tighter labor competition. Shift leaders and assistant managers report meaningfully higher hourly pay in the same wage-tracking data, and general managers are typically salaried. These are aggregated, crowd-sourced figures rather than an official Jersey Mike's pay scale, since the company does not publish one centrally, so treat any specific number a store quotes you during hiring as the accurate one for that location.
Since hiring happens at the franchise level, the most reliable path is applying directly to the store you want to work at, not through a general corporate submission.
Almost everything above covers store-level hiring, team member, shift leader, assistant manager, general manager, since that is what the overwhelming majority of people searching Jersey Mike's careers are looking for. But Jersey Mike's also has a separate corporate side, headquartered in Manasquan, New Jersey, with roles in marketing, finance, IT, and franchise development that support the brand nationally rather than run a single store.
These corporate positions are genuinely different from store jobs: they are salaried, based out of or reporting to the Manasquan headquarters, and hired directly by Jersey Mike's Franchise Systems rather than by an individual franchise owner. If you are specifically looking for a corporate or franchise-development role rather than a crew position, search "Jersey Mike's corporate careers" on the official careers page or check LinkedIn directly, since these listings are far less common than store openings and do not show up when you search by zip code the way store jobs do.
Store-level positions, team member, shift leader, and most general manager roles, fall under service and food-industry work, which is commonly grouped with blue-collar or trade-adjacent labor rather than office or professional work. That is a fair, accurate way to describe crew-level jobs at Jersey Mike's. The corporate roles described above (marketing, finance, franchise development) do not fit that description, they are standard white-collar office positions. So the honest answer depends entirely on which side of the company you mean, store or corporate, since the two are staffed and categorized very differently.
Employee accounts describe the process as short and practical rather than drawn out. It generally comes down to one conversation with a manager or owner covering your availability, why you want the job, and how you would handle a busy line or a difficult customer. Background checks and drug screening are mentioned in some employee accounts, though this is another point that varies by franchise owner and state, not a universal company-wide policy.
Benefits are another area that shifts by store. Employee reviews on Glassdoor consistently mention free or discounted food during shifts and flexible scheduling as the most reliable perks, useful for students and people juggling school or a second job. Health insurance, paid time off, and retirement benefits show up far less consistently in reviews and tend to depend on whether the role is full time and what the specific franchise group offers. If benefits matter to your decision, it is worth asking directly during the interview rather than assuming based on what another location offers.
It depends on the store. Every Jersey Mike's is independently owned, so the minimum hiring age follows that franchisee's local state labor law, and most locations set it at 16. Some hire at 15 with a work permit, and running the slicer usually requires being 18.
Crew member pay generally falls between 13 and 18 dollars an hour, based on wage-tracking sites like Glassdoor, Indeed, and PayScale. The exact number depends on state minimum wage, the specific store, and experience, since each location sets its own pay independently.
Apply through the official Jersey Mike's careers page by searching openings near your zip code, or walk into a nearby location during a slower afternoon stretch and ask to speak with a manager. Because stores are franchise-owned, hiring happens at the local level, not through a corporate office.
Most stores hire for team member or crew member, shift leader, assistant manager, and general manager. Team member is the typical entry point and covers prep, register, and eventually slicing once an employee is old enough and trained.
Benefits vary by franchise owner. Employee reviews commonly mention flexible scheduling and free or discounted food during shifts. Health insurance and paid time off are less consistent and tend to depend on the specific store and whether the role is full time.
Yes. Jersey Mike's corporate headquarters in Manasquan, New Jersey hires for marketing, finance, IT, and franchise development roles that support the brand nationally, separate from the store-level team member and management jobs each franchise owner hires for individually.
Store-level positions like team member, shift leader, and general manager are food-service and trade-adjacent roles, commonly grouped with blue-collar work. Corporate roles in marketing, finance, and franchise development are standard white-collar office positions, so the answer depends on which side of the company you mean.