5 Top Tech Companies to Work For in the San Francisco Bay Area

The San Francisco Bay Area is home to some of the largest and most innovative technology companies in the world, making it famous for its abundance of talent in the tech industry. From 2017 to 2018, Silicon Valley alone experienced job growth at a rate of 2.2 percent, compared to a national job growth rate of 1.5 percent. In 2017 it was reported that the median personal income for those with a bachelor’s degree was $79,862, while those with a graduate or professional degree had a median income of $114,868 in the same year.

With these statistics in mind, it makes sense that people looking to build their careers in technology often see the San Francisco Bay Area as the destination to do so. Aside from the obvious tech giants like Apple and Google, there are numerous tech companies in located in San Francisco and Silicon Valley that are fantastic places to work. Below, we explore five of the top tech companies to work for in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Top Tech Companies in the San Francisco Bay Area

1. Salesforce

Salesforce is a cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) platform whose headquarters is located in the heart of San Francisco, California. In fact, the Salesforce Tower (formerly the Transbay tower) is the tallest building in San Francisco, reaching more than 1,000 feet, making it a city icon.

Aside from its impressive building, Salesforce is known as a great place to work due to their many employee incentives. For example, Salesforce grants its employees up to seven days of paid time off per year to volunteer for their favorite charities. Additionally—in accordance with the company’s commitment to social responsibility—the company has pledged to match nonprofit donations of up to $5,000 per year.  

Salesforce is always looking to add the most talented individuals to their team. To help recruit the best and brightest, the company created the Futureforce University Recruiting Program, which offers opportunities for undergraduate students, new graduates, and students pursuing an advanced degree in a field that Salesforce has indicated are a priority for the company. Data science, research, corporate development, and product marketing are all examples of such programs.

If Salesforce sounds like your dream workplace or you are interested in the opportunities provided through the Futureforce program, you should consider the education required to secure a role at the company. Completing an advanced degree (in collaboration with Futureforce or otherwise) can provide you with the skills needed to excel.

Programs offered at Northeastern University’s Silicon Valley campus, such as the MS in Computer Science, MS in Information Systems, or MS in Project Management, among others, can help prepare you for your professional career at a top company like Salesforce.

2. NVIDIA

Nvidia Corporation is an American technology company best known for its invention of game processing units (GPUs) for gaming and professional uses. Since its foundation in 1993, the company has expanded into several other markets, most recently broadening its focus to embrace artificial intelligence.

Nvidia has made Silicon Valley its home, with a corporate headquarters located in Santa Clara, California. The company has been recognized by many for its outstanding and innovative culture. In 2017, Nvidia ranked number one in MIT Tech Review’s “50 Smartest Companies” list, and Harvard Business Review named Jensen Huang among the top business leaders in the world in the “Best Performing CEOs” list in 2018.

To further prove that Nvidia is one of the top tech companies to work for in Silicon Valley, employees are offered generous benefits upon joining the team. Perhaps most notably, Nvidia offers access to the Stanford Health Navigator Program, which provides medical advice and care from leading healthcare institutions around the world, and the Employee Stock Purchase Program, which is among the most generous in the industry.

The company offers these benefits—and more—in an effort to attract and retain the world’s best talent. Helena, a member of Nvidia’s human resources team, says, “NVIDIA brings great people together to do their work and create world-changing technology.”

There are always opportunities for employment available at Nvidia. As the company is hyper-focused on the tech industry, earning an advanced degree in a related field, like computer science, information systems, or analytics, can help demonstrate the expertise required of applicants. Those interested in a more business-focused role should still be well-versed in the underlying technology that NVIDIA builds and sells but may be better served by earning a degree in project management.

3. Adobe

Well known for its suite of creative applications like Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign, Adobe Inc. is also regarded as one of the best places to work in the San Francisco Bay Area.

In fact, Abode has received several awards recently in recognition of its outstanding workplace culture. Fortune Magazine ranked the company among the “Best Workplaces for Millennials” list in 2018; Forbes gave them the top spot in their “America’s Best Employers for New Graduates,” and Indeed called them one of the top companies to work for in technology.

Adobe’s corporate headquarters is located in San Jose, and they have several other locations across the globe. In California, some of these locations include San Francisco, San Mateo, and other parts of Southern California.

Employees enjoy many perks by working at Adobe, including flexible paid time off and access to the company’s Learning Fund, which provides professional development and tuition reimbursement. Larger locations have world-class cafes that serve local, sustainably sourced foods, and some locations even offer paid sabbaticals for every five years of service.

Social responsibility is at the heart of Adobe’s business processes, allowing employees to feel that the work that they do has a significant impact. Shantanu Narayen, CEO and President of Adobe, says, “Adobe’s values—genuine, innovative, involved, and exceptional—are built on the foundation that our people and how we treat one another are what make us a great company. Diversity is about valuing the unique life experience that every employee brings to work every day. Our success is dependent upon it.”

At any given time, Adobe’s San Jose offices have hundreds of open positions across a variety of teams like Data Science, Engineering, Legal, Finance, and more. As each of these areas requires its own unique set of skills and experience, earning an advanced degree that aligns with your field of interest can help prepare you for these types of positions. A Master of Science in Computer Science, Information Systems, or Project Management can all be valuable options.

4. Atlassian

Atlassian is an Australian enterprise software company that develops products for applications software development, project management, and content management. Among Atlassian’s most well-known products are Jira, Confluence, and the recently acquired Trello.

The Australian company has expanded to include offices all over the world, including both San Francisco and Mountain View, California. Employees have access to many impressive benefits, including flexible schedules to ensure a healthy work/life balance, access to tuition reimbursement for professional development, and fully stocked kitchens during the workday.

Atlassian is passionate about giving back to the communities in which they operate. To facilitate this, Atlassian grants its employees “foundation leave,” consisting of five paid days per year to volunteer at their favorite charities. If you are interested in working in a place like this, you can even take a quiz to determine if your values align with Atlassian’s.

If you aspire to work in a highly innovative environment where your work is valuable, consider reviewing the employment opportunities available at Atlassian on a regular basis, as new opportunities are regularly listed. As with the other companies on this list, advanced degrees that impart technical skills—like a master’s degree in computer science, analytics, or information systems—can help applicants appeal to hiring managers at the company.

5. Eventbrite

One of the more recently founded companies to flourish in the San Francisco tech scene is Eventbrite, an online event management and ticketing platform that is attempting to redefine the event industry. Since launching in 2006, Eventbrite has taken the industry by storm, facilitating 3.9 million events throughout 170 countries in 2018 alone.

The Eventbrite headquarters is situated in San Francisco’s South Market (SOMA) neighborhood, just a short walk away from Union Square and among countless other tech companies.

The San Francisco Eventbrite office is a growing team looking for talented professionals to become the next “britelings,” as employees are affectionately referred to. Some employee incentives offered by the company include free catered lunch every day and a flexible time-off policy that encourages employees to take the time that they need for a healthy work/life balance. Additionally, Eventbrite offices are dog-friendly and currently welcome 57 “barklings” to come to work with their owners.

As the team continues to grow, opportunities for employment in various fields are emerging at Eventbrite. If the San Francisco office sounds like your dream workplace, earning an advanced degree in your area of interest can help you get your foot in the door. In addition to an obvious need for workers with technical skills, the expanding company also has a unique need for those with business and management experience, meaning that earning a degree in business administration, engineering management, or corporate and organizational communication can help prepare you for your desired role.

Preparing For Your Future Role

In a region that is known for having countless opportunities in the technology industry, it’s easy to see why young professionals are flocking to the region to work at these companies. By taking the appropriate steps to prepare yourself for the responsibilities and challenges you might encounter in the industry, you can set yourself up for a successful career in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The academic programs offered by Northeastern University—Silicon Valley can help. By bringing together challenging academics, experiential learning, and faculty members with industry experience, they’re designed to meet the unique needs of area businesses.