Also called: Futures Analyst, Horizon Scanning Analyst
Imagines possible futures, like new technologies, pandemics, or climate shifts, and helps government prepare for them.
Foresight analysts at places like GAO's Center for Strategic Foresight and defense agencies run scenario workshops, scan research for early signals of change, and write reports on what the world could look like in 20 years.
Estimate.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Master's degree, about 6 years after high school. Bachelor's plus often a master's in policy, futures studies, or a science field.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Public Policy, Futures Studies, Political Science, Science & Technology Studies.
Growing faster than average. More agencies are creating foresight units.
Medium risk for 10 years. AI scans trends and drafts scenarios; facilitating leaders through hard tradeoffs and judging plausibility stays human.
Classes: AP Statistics, Creative writing, AP World History.
Official data: O*NET occupation 19-3099.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.