750+ Retail Jobs in San Jose, CA

Observed government pay is lower than many recent salary postings suggest. For retail salespersons in the metro, BLS reported a 2025 median of $44,220 and a mean of $47,420, with the 90th percentile at $58,300. For first-line supervisors of retail sales workers, BLS reported a 2025 median of $61,710 and a mean of $65,050. Recent local postings center on about $18 to $22 / hour for hourly roles and about $75k to $90k for salary-posted roles, which likely reflects a mix of supervisory and specialty openings rather than the typical floor job.

Full September 2026 market report

Advertised pay

Across the 697 openings that disclose pay, the advertised range midpoint runs $38,896 at the 25th percentile, $42,526 at the median and $49,920 at the 75th. These are advertised ranges, not earned pay.

Active openings as of October 16, 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

Competitive market | next 3-6 months

This is a workable but selective retail market. San Jose metro unemployment was 4.3% in August 2026, total nonfarm employment was up 1.5917% year over year, and trade, transportation, and utilities employment was up 0.6867% year over year, so the local economy is still expanding modestly rather than stalling. At the same time, more than 1,100 retail postings were observed across more than 350 local companies over the last 90 days, but California retail employment was essentially flat while California retail postings were up 10.3% year over year, which points to real openings with a meaningful share of replacement hiring and churn. That combination usually favors candidates who can step into store-floor work quickly, work on-site, and cover more than pure cashier duties.

Best positioned: Candidates with open on-site availability plus inventory management, customer service, merchandising, and cash-handling skills have the best odds right now.

Main caution: Do not mistake the richer salary-posting bands for typical front-line pay: hourly retail postings center on about $18 to $22 / hour, while the salary-posted market is pulled up by supervisory and specialty roles.

From the September 2026 market report

Who is hiring here

Counted across all 788 openings in this market. 10 of the employers below are hiring for more than one role right now.

1. Macy's, Inc.: 57 open roles
2. your adv: 15 open roles
3. Shoe Palace: 14 open roles
4. The TJX Companies, Inc.: 14 open roles
5. EssilorLuxottica: 13 open roles
6. AutoZone, Inc.: 12 open roles
7. Tailored Brands: 12 open roles
8. Tory Burch: 12 open roles
9. Bath & Body Works: 11 open roles
10. SKECHERS USA, Inc.: 11 open roles

Where the openings are

• San Jose: 197
• Santa Clara: 112
• Livermore: 109
• Palo Alto: 84
• Pleasanton: 52
• Milpitas: 49
• Fremont: 35
• Redwood City: 23

Work arrangement

on-site 747 (99%), hybrid 4 (1%), remote 1 (0%)

Where the demand is

Real opportunity is spread across a long tail, not dominated by one chain. Over the last 90 days, more than 1,100 local retail postings were observed across more than 350 companies, and the employer base reads as fragmented rather than concentrated. The most active names in the recent sample included Macy's, Panda Express, Costco Wholesale Corp., Ross Stores, Inc., CVS Health Corporation, Spirit Halloween, EssilorLuxottica, and Tailored Brands. The market is more concentrated by role type than by employer. About 75% of postings are entry level, and about 95% or more are on-site. By industry mix, about 75% of postings sit in general retail, about 10% in retail apparel and fashion, and about 5% in department, clothing & shoe stores. That means the easiest path is still hands-on store work that combines customer service, inventory management, merchandising, and flexible scheduling rather than remote or purely administrative work. A smaller but useful pocket of demand is opening around specialty grocery and food-adjacent retail. Sakura Marketplace planned store hiring in downtown San Jose, and Hashi Market activated a Cupertino site that had been vacant since 2023.

• General retail, grocery, and warehouse-style store work (high): This is the broadest opportunity pool, especially for candidates who can handle customer service, stocking, inventory, and pace on the sales floor. Local grocery and specialty-food expansion signals include Sakura Marketplace hiring plans and Hashi Market's Cupertino opening.
• Apparel, department, and specialty stores (moderate): This is a meaningful but narrower lane. About 10% of postings are in retail apparel and fashion and about 5% in department, clothing & shoe stores, with Macy's, Ross Stores, Inc., EssilorLuxottica, and Tailored Brands among active employers.
• Supervisory retail roles (moderate): This slice is smaller than entry retail, but it is where pay improves most clearly. First-line supervisors of retail sales workers had a local 2025 median wage of $61,710.

Where to focus: Focus first on on-site store roles where you can sell yourself as useful across service, inventory, and merchandising, then use that platform to move into lead or specialty-store work.

Roles worth searching next

• Inventory coordinator or receiving clerk: It uses the same inventory-management habits that show up most often in local retail postings.
• Customer service representative: It builds directly on customer service and product-knowledge skills that retail employers already ask for.
• Hospitality front desk or guest services agent: The overlap is strongest for face-to-face service, issue resolution, and shift flexibility.
• Bank teller or branch service representative: Retail cash handling and customer trust translate well to branch service work.

What postings ask for

• Inventory management (table_stakes | immediate): It is the most common hard-skill request in local retail postings, appearing in about 35% of the sample, so it travels across stock, replenishment, and sales-floor roles. Who: Entry-level applicants, stock-heavy candidates, and career switchers.
• Customer service (table_stakes | immediate): Customer service appears in about 25% of local postings and remains the core filter for front-line hiring. Who: Everyone applying to store-floor roles.
• Merchandising (differentiator | immediate): Merchandising shows up in about 25% of postings, which helps separate floor candidates from cash-only applicants. Who: Entry-level applicants who want better odds and mid-career workers aiming at lead roles.
• Cash handling (table_stakes | immediate): Cash handling appears in about 15% of postings and is still expected in many general retail and smaller-format stores, even as pure cashier work becomes less durable. Who: Entry-level applicants and career switchers from food service or hospitality.
• Visual merchandising (differentiator | near-term): Visual merchandising appears in about 15% of local postings and matters most in apparel, department, and specialty retail where floor presentation drives sales. Who: Applicants targeting apparel, footwear, lifestyle, and branded-store environments.
• Loss prevention (differentiator | near-term): Loss prevention appears in about 10% of postings and can help candidates move toward trusted opening/closing or key-holder responsibilities. Who: Workers with prior closing duties, inventory responsibility, or interest in lead roles.

Questions about this market

What do Retail roles pay in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA?

Observed government pay is lower than many recent salary postings suggest. For retail salespersons in the metro, BLS reported a 2025 median of $44,220 and a mean of $47,420, with the 90th percentile at $58,300. For first-line supervisors of retail sales workers, BLS reported a 2025 median of $61,710 and a mean of $65,050. Recent local postings center on about $18 to $22 / hour for hourly roles and about $75k to $90k for salary-posted roles, which likely reflects a mix of supervisory and specialty openings rather than the typical floor job. San Jose retail pays above the national retail salesperson mean of $37,310 and national median of $35,410, but the local premium does not automatically make entry retail comfortable in a very high-cost metro.

Where is demand for Retail roles in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA concentrated?

Real opportunity is spread across a long tail, not dominated by one chain. Over the last 90 days, more than 1,100 local retail postings were observed across more than 350 companies, and the employer base reads as fragmented rather than concentrated. The most active names in the recent sample included Macy's, Panda Express, Costco Wholesale Corp., Ross Stores, Inc., CVS Health Corporation, Spirit Halloween, EssilorLuxottica, and Tailored Brands. The market is more concentrated by role type than by employer. About 75% of postings are entry level, and about 95% or more are on-site. By industry mix, about 75% of postings sit in general retail, about 10% in retail apparel and fashion, and about 5% in department, clothing & shoe stores. That means the easiest path is still hands-on store work that combines customer service, inventory management, merchandising, and flexible scheduling rather than remote or purely administrative work. A smaller but useful pocket of demand is opening around specialty grocery and food-adjacent retail. Sakura Marketplace planned store hiring in downtown San Jose, and Hashi Market activated a Cupertino site that had been vacant since 2023.

Which employers are hiring the most Retail talent in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA?

Recent postings show the most activity from Macy's (40 postings), Panda Express (30 postings), Costco Wholesale Corp. (30 postings), Ross Stores, Inc. (20 postings), CVS Health Corporation (20 postings). See the full market report for the complete employer landscape.

Can Retail roles in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA be done remotely?

Of recent postings, 5% are remote and 5% 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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