300+ Hospitality & Food Service Jobs in San Jose, CA

The cleanest local pay anchor is the BLS mean hourly wage of $23.52 for food preparation and serving roles in the San Jose metro in May 2025. Current local posting data suggests frontline hourly jobs cluster around about $20 to $22 / hour, while annual salary postings center on about $80k to $100k because that slice includes more manager and higher-responsibility roles.

Full August 2026 market report

Advertised pay

Across the 286 openings that disclose pay, the advertised range midpoint runs $43,680 at the 25th percentile, $50,721 at the median and $57,200 at the 75th. These are advertised ranges, not earned pay.

Active openings as of September 25, 2026

Senior roles | Entry level | Remote | Posted this week

Live from the Callings.ai index of over 13 million postings, refreshed hourly and re-checked here nightly. Roles that close are dropped at the next refresh.

Showing 30 of 250+ openings.

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What our analysts see this month

Balanced market | next 3-6 months

This is a workable but not easy market for hospitality job seekers. San Jose's unemployment rate was 3.9% in June 2026, and food preparation and serving roles still make up 8.8% of metro employment, so the category remains meaningful locally. Recent posting evidence shows more than 650 hospitality postings across more than 200 companies in the last 90 days, with hiring spread across many employers rather than dominated by one chain. But the direction signal is mixed: California hospitality postings were up 2.5% year over year in August 2026 even as California hospitality employment was down 1.0%, and the San Francisco Fed described district employment as largely unchanged with some hiring freezes.

Best positioned: Candidates with open availability for on-site work, plus food safety, inventory, cash handling, and customer service skills, have the best odds right now—especially if they target restaurants, hotels, healthcare food service, and contractor-run operations rather than one dream employer.

Main caution: Do not mistake this for an easy-entry market just because many jobs sit near the entry level; about 65% of postings are entry level, the typical active posting has been open around 37 days, and less than 5% of postings that mention sponsorship say visa support is available.

From the August 2026 market report

Who is hiring here

Counted across all 333 openings in this market. 10 of the employers below are hiring for more than one role right now.

1. Panda Express: 36 open roles
2. Compass Group: 28 open roles
3. Bon App Tit Management Company: 16 open roles
4. Oakmont Senior Living: 10 open roles
5. Aramark Corporation: 7 open roles
6. Brinker: 7 open roles
7. Aramark Corporation: 6 open roles
8. Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc.: 6 open roles
9. Merrill Gardens: 6 open roles
10. Millennium Hotels: 6 open roles

Where the openings are

• San Jose: 93
• Sunnyvale: 42
• Palo Alto: 34
• Santa Clara: 24
• Fremont: 18
• Cupertino: 15
• Mountain View: 15
• Pleasanton: 14

Work arrangement

on-site 295 (100%), hybrid 1 (0%)

Where the demand is

Real opportunity is spread across a long tail of employers rather than dominated by a single chain. In the last 90 days, the local market showed more than 650 hospitality postings across more than 200 companies, and the hiring sample was fragmented. The biggest concentration is still classic food service: hospitality accounts for about 30% of sampled postings, restaurants about 25%, healthcare about 10%, catering and food service contractors about 10%, and food and beverage about 10%. That mix matters because it widens the best target list. Starbucks Corp. and Compass Group were among the most consistently active named employers, which points to steady chain and contractor demand, while new project announcements suggest incremental openings at both ends of the market: CAVA expects to hire approximately 25 to 40 team members for its Santana Row opening, and Hotel De Anza has three food-and-beverage concepts planned. For most job seekers, the fastest path is not waiting on one flagship restaurant; it is applying across restaurant, hotel F&B, healthcare dining, and contractor-run operations at the same time. The market is also heavily in-person and junior-skewed. About 95% or more of postings are on-site, and about 65% are entry level. That favors candidates who can start quickly, work varied shifts, and show reliability on basic operating tasks.

• Restaurants and fast-casual (high): Restaurants make up about 25% of sampled postings, and CAVA said it expects to hire approximately 25 to 40 local team members for its Santana Row opening.
• Hotels and chef-led F&B concepts (moderate): Hospitality makes up about 30% of sampled postings, and Hotel De Anza has three food-and-beverage concepts planned, which should create staged openings across kitchen and front-of-house work.
• Institutional food service and contractors (high): Healthcare accounts for about 10% of sampled postings and catering or food-service contractors another about 10%, making this one of the better targets for candidates who want steadier process-driven work.

Where to focus: Prioritize institutional food service and fast-casual first for interview volume, then layer in hotel and chef-led openings for upside.

Roles worth searching next

• Retail sales associate or retail shift supervisor: The move is natural if your strengths are customer interaction, cash handling, opening and closing routines, and fast-paced floor work.
• Customer support representative: Hospitality service recovery translates well into phone, chat, and email support when you can document issues clearly and stay calm under pressure.
• Patient access representative or clinic front desk: Front-desk hospitality habits transfer into appointment flow, intake, and guest-facing coordination in healthcare settings.
• Office coordinator or workplace experience associate: This path suits candidates who like guest-facing service but want a more administrative environment and weekday-heavy rhythm.

What postings ask for

• Food safety and sanitation (table_stakes | immediate): Food safety and sanitation are among the most requested local skill signals, which makes them an early screening filter for many employers. Who: Everyone, especially entry-level candidates and switchers.
• ServSafe (differentiator | immediate): ServSafe is the most commonly named certification in local postings, so it can help a resume clear early filters even when it is not strictly required. Who: Cooks, shift leads, catering applicants, and institutional food-service candidates.
• Cash handling and POS execution (table_stakes | immediate): Cash handling is one of the top requested local skills, which keeps it highly relevant for barista, counter, cashier, and front-of-house roles. Who: Entry-level applicants and career switchers.
• Inventory management (differentiator | immediate): Inventory management shows up as often as cash handling in local postings, making it a useful separator for candidates aiming above pure guest-service tasks. Who: Mid-career applicants and anyone targeting supervisor, contractor, or catering roles.
• Beverage preparation (differentiator | immediate): Beverage preparation is a recurring local requirement, giving coffee, bar, and fast-casual candidates a concrete edge. Who: Front-of-house applicants, baristas, and service workers crossing between concepts.
• Customer service and service recovery (table_stakes | immediate): Customer service is directly requested in local postings, and broader hospitality research still points to human interaction as the part of the job least vulnerable to automation. Who: Everyone, especially switchers from retail, support, or patient-facing work.

Questions about this market

What do Hospitality, Food Service & Travel roles pay in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA?

The cleanest local pay anchor is the BLS mean hourly wage of $23.52 for food preparation and serving roles in the San Jose metro in May 2025. Current local posting data suggests frontline hourly jobs cluster around about $20 to $22 / hour, while annual salary postings center on about $80k to $100k because that slice includes more manager and higher-responsibility roles. This is not a low-floor market: San Jose's local minimum wage is $18.45 / hour, Sunnyvale's is $19.50 / hour, and California's fast-food minimum is $20 / hour. But hospitality is still one of the lower-paying major occupational groups in this metro, so the wage floor is high by national standards without making most frontline jobs high-income jobs.

Where is demand for Hospitality, Food Service & Travel roles in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA concentrated?

Real opportunity is spread across a long tail of employers rather than dominated by a single chain. In the last 90 days, the local market showed more than 650 hospitality postings across more than 200 companies, and the hiring sample was fragmented. The biggest concentration is still classic food service: hospitality accounts for about 30% of sampled postings, restaurants about 25%, healthcare about 10%, catering and food service contractors about 10%, and food and beverage about 10%. That mix matters because it widens the best target list. Starbucks Corp. and Compass Group were among the most consistently active named employers, which points to steady chain and contractor demand, while new project announcements suggest incremental openings at both ends of the market: CAVA expects to hire approximately 25 to 40 team members for its Santana Row opening, and Hotel De Anza has three food-and-beverage concepts planned. For most job seekers, the fastest path is not waiting on one flagship restaurant; it is applying across restaurant, hotel F&B, healthcare dining, and contractor-run operations at the same time. The market is also heavily in-person and junior-skewed. About 95% or more of postings are on-site, and about 65% are entry level. That favors candidates who can start quickly, work varied shifts, and show reliability on basic operating tasks.

Which employers are hiring the most Hospitality, Food Service & Travel talent in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA?

Recent postings show the most activity from Starbucks Corp. (75 postings), Compass Group (40 postings). See the full market report for the complete employer landscape.

Can Hospitality, Food Service & Travel roles in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA be done remotely?

Of recent postings, 4% are remote and 4% hybrid, with 95% on-site. Use the Remote filter above to see only remote openings.

How current are these listings?

Openings come from the Callings.ai live index of over 13 million jobs, refreshed hourly. This page searches postings from the last 30 days; run the search yourself to filter by anything else in plain language.

Browse California openings by job title

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• Associate Director: 75 open roles statewide

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