Silicon Valley Shines as Jobs Bounce Back

"It has been good for areas like San Jose and other tech-heavy sectors," he said. "Places like San Jose, where companies are providing these productivity-enhancing products, are the ones that are seeing big expansion in their payrolls and employment base."

VMware(VMW) , which recently beat analysts' second-quarter estimates, is a good example of this trend.

Virtualization, which lets users make virtual versions of their hardware and software, has been one of the key technology trends of recent years, as companies look to consolidate their data centers and reduce IT gear. Set against this backdrop, Palo Alto-based VMware has emerged as a key beneficiary of the cloud computing boom.