San Jose is the tenth largest city in the nation. Due to the San Jose area's large concentration of high-technology, engineering, microprocessor and computer firms, it's known as Silicon Valley. The region is home to more than 7,000 technology companies. The San Jose area has more high-tech firms than any other area in the country. In addition, about 35% of all venture capital funds in the nation are invested in San Jose and Silicon Valley firms. Fortune Magazine named San Jose as the epicenter of information technology.
High technology is the primary employer in the region. The supporting businesses and services industries also provide a large number of jobs. The area also has a large number of high-level jobs. San Jose also has one of the highest median incomes for cities with a population over 280,000.
The primary sectors for employment in San Jose are:
- High Technology
- Healthcare
- Manufacturing
- Trade, transportation and utilities
- Government
- Construction
- Education
- Leisure and hospitality
- Computer specialists
- Finance
- Information
Some of the jobs which are more prevalent in San Jose than most of the nation's other cities are semiconductor processors, computer hardware engineers, sales engineers, computer software engineers, systems software; electronics engineers, electromechanical equipment assemblers, electrical engineers and engineering managers.
The municipality is home to the headquarters of numerous prominent companies including Cisco, Adobe Systems, BEA, eBay and Sunpower. Prominent companies with major facilities in San Jose include IBM, Hitachi, Lockheed Martin, Flextronics and Hewlett-Packard. San Jose has 25 businesses which include over 1,000 employees.
According to the City of San Jose's, Office of Economic Development, the education level of the workforce in the San Jose metropolitan area is one of the highest in the nation. The local colleges put thousands of computer science and engineering graduates into the economy on an annual basis. Regarding the population over the age of 25, approximately 32% have a bachelor's degree or higher.
The Local Preference Policy is designed to encourage local firms to work with other local firms and collaborate with the city to increase job growth and to keep a higher percentage of the city's spending in the regional economy. A large state Enterprise Zone provides companies operating in the zone significant tax savings and other types of financial benefits.
The Silicon Valley Workforce Investment Network provides resources for job seekers and offers services to companies. Local companies have access to a variety of bonds, loans and special funds. The SBA/Cisco Systems/San Jose Entrepreneur Center Association offers a variety of assistance to entrepreneurs and small businesses.
Notable information about San Jose: The cost of living in San Jose and the region is among the highest in the state of California and the nation. San Jose is one of the highest patent producing cities in the nation. In 2007, the estimated median household income was $76,963. According to the City of San Jose's, Office of Economic Development the San Jose metropolitan area has the highest productivity level of any region in the United States.
Shown below are the primary employers in San Jose:
- Santa Clara County
- Cisco Systems
- The city of San Jose
- IBM
- Hitachi
- San Jose Unified School District
- Xilinx
- Agilent Technologies
- Adobe Systems
- KLA Tencor Instruments
- Good Samaritan Health System
- Cadence Design Systems
- Novellus Systems
- Sanmina-SCI
- San Jose State University
- Avago Technologies
- HP Pavilion at San Jose
- Kaiser Permanente Medical Center
- Santa Teresa Community Hospital
- Valley Medical Center
San Jose companies may obtain assistance from business organizations such as:
- San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce
- San Jose Downtown Association
- San Jose Office of Economic Development
The San Jose Business Journal provides up-to-date information regarding the business activities in San Jose.