Benchmarking Salary in the Forecasting Profession

BENCHMARKING SALARY IN THE FORECASTING PROFESSION By Chaman L. Jain, St. John’s University Since more and more companies are now either putting the forecasting function in for the first time or expanding the existing one, the question often arises how much shouldwe be paying for positions in the area, which are fair and competitive? The survey provides some answers. In our survey, 55.51% of companies hired one or more full- time forecasters only during the last five years. OVERALL SALARY In the survey, forecasting positions were categorized into five: (1) Forecast Analyst, (2) Sr. Forecast Analyst, (3) Forecast Manager, (4) Director of Forecasting, and (5) Vice President of Forecasting. When all the industries are combined, the median salary of a Forecast Analyst comes to $49,000; a Sr. Forecast Analyst, $63,000; a Forecast Manager, $75,000; a Director of Forecasting, $105,000; and a Vice President of Forecasting, $143,000. (See Figure 1) The median is the point that divides the group in half; half of the group makes more than the median salary and the other half less than this amount. SALARY BY INDUSTRY Salary in each position varies from industry to industry. For the positions ...