SJVMA + CHAMBA Skills

What San Joaquin Valley manufacturers are short of

A public read of the skills San Joaquin Valley Manufacturers Alliance members report needing, drawn from completed CHAMBA Skills assessments. Employers report what they are short of, educators build programs around it, and the people training for those jobs can see where the work is.

Employers represented

Companies with at least one completed assessment.

Employees represented

1,305

Headcount across the reporting employers, counted once each.

Leaders interviewed

Owners, managers, and supervisors who finished a guided interview.

Counties represented

San Joaquin Valley counties whose employers clear the publishing threshold.

What the region makes, and where it sells it

86% produced & sold domestically 14% reaches global markets

Employer figures current as of June 2026. Pay figures: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, May 2025 release.

Critical skills gap alert

Regionally, here is what employers told us they need most.

AI & Digital Literacy

Impact: High impact. New equipment and software adoption slows across every industry surveyed.
Recommended action: Stand up a short AI and digital literacy module for current technicians, not just new hires.

Electrical Troubleshooting

Impact: High impact. Concentrated in senior staff only, a retirement risk as much as a hiring risk.
Recommended action: Cross-train mid-career technicians now, before senior staff retire.

Self-Starting & Initiative

Impact: Very high impact. Named by every responding employer, regardless of industry.
Recommended action: Build initiative and ownership into onboarding, not just technical skill.

Who this is for

For employers

A direct line to the San Joaquin Valley's training providers, and pay benchmarking for your critical roles once your assessment is complete.

Take the assessment

For educators

Current employer demand by skill, reported by the companies hiring for it, so a program can be built around what the region actually needs.

See what employers need

For students and workers

Training pathways built around the skills that get people hired and promoted here, with the programs that teach them.

View the live program map

The 30-second read

Risk signals

Electrical troubleshooting shortage
Senior techs hold this skill, but it isn’t spreading to newer hires fast enough to cover demand.
AI and digital literacy gap
Most employers see this coming but have no formal way to close it yet.
Leadership succession risk
Several employers have no clear next-in-line for manager and supervisor roles.

Growth signals

High demand for maintenance technicians
Multiple sectors are competing for the same small pool of skilled techs.
Growth in food processing
Packing and processing employers are investing in capacity, not just maintaining it.
Strong wage progression pathways
Mid-level roles already pay well above entry wage, a real incentive for upskilling.

Recommended moves

Expand industrial maintenance training
The single highest-leverage gap to close based on current demand.
Increase incumbent worker upskilling
Existing staff are closer to job-ready than new hires for these roles.
Create AI literacy modules for technicians
A short, targeted module closes a gap every employer flagged.

Regional growth strategy

Where the region is heading

Local manufacturers are trying to make and sell their own products, not just build parts for someone else’s order.
More companies are bringing work back to the US instead of overseas, and they are spending money to grow because of it.
Employers are planning now for who replaces their managers and senior staff when they retire or leave, instead of scrambling later.

What employers are up against

Employers say finding skilled workers is now harder than finding new customers, which is a complete flip from how business used to work.
California’s rules and costs of doing business are the toughest employers here say they have ever operated under.
The cost of materials, equipment, and insurance keeps going up at the same time good workers are hard to find.

A general direction reported across the San Joaquin Valley, not a statement about any one employer. No company can be identified from anything on this page.

What mid-level roles pay

What mid-level roles pay. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 release. Hourly figures, with the published area named on each row.
Role	Area median	Typical range
Computer Numerically Controlled Tool ProgrammersCalifornia · statewide	Area median$39.47	Typical range$31.94–$49.51
First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating WorkersFresno, CA	Area median$34.88	Typical range$26.99–$41.63
Industrial Machinery MechanicsFresno, CA	Area median$32.28	Typical range$27.79–$36.98

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 release. Hourly figures, with the published area named on each row.

Complete your HR interview to see every role

6 more roles are in the full table, each with what employers in the region report paying. The full comparison opens for companies whose HR interview is complete — that is the interview that collects pay by role, so it is what the regional figures are built from.

The band employers report publishes once 4 companies in the region have reported pay. 0 have so far.

Start your HR interview

What is counted

Figures come from CHAMBA Skills assessments completed by San Joaquin Valley Manufacturers Alliance members. Each employer’s headcount is counted once, however many of its leaders were interviewed.

Anonymity threshold

A figure publishes only when at least 3 employers stand behind it and no single employer accounts for more than 80 percent of it. A withheld figure says so here rather than showing a zero.

Pay figures

Pay comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 release. No individual company’s pay is ever shown.