Benchmarking Salary in the Forecasting Profession

BENCHMARKING SALARY IN THE FORECASTING PROFESSION By Chaman L. Jain, St. John’s University Forecasting is a fairly young function, the way it is now practiced in business. As such, forecasters are interested to know what kind of salary other companies are giving to their forecasting professionals. Those who are contemplating entering into this field for the first time also want to know what they can expect and how far they can advance in this profession. This benchmarking study, conducted by IBF (Institute of Business Forecasting) in 2003, provides valuable insights into these questions. OVERALL SALARY As before, the survey categorized the forecasting positions 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 $50,000; a Sr. Forecast Analyst, $62,000; a Forecast Manager, $77,000; a Director of Forecasting, $103,000; and a Vice President of Forecasting, $144,000. (See Figure 1) The median is the point that divides the group in half: half of the group makes more than the median salary, ...