With CFO staying power at all-time low, pay reaches all-time high
Average CFOs pay, involving salary, bonuses, stock awards and options climbed from $2.4 million in 2016 to $3.5 million in 2021.
According to a CFO retention and turnover study done by Datarails, this has been a long-standing trend. This study reveals the modern CFO has the least job security among C-Suite colleagues between the years 2016-2021. This is based on complete filings of company records of 2,056 companies in the U.S.
CFOs at the biggest U.S. companies only lasted an average of 3.51 years in post:
- CEOs – 3.89 years
- General Counsel – 4.50 years
- Chief Marketing Officers – 4.63 years
- Chief Technology Officers (recording the highest staying power) – 4.64 years
Of the nearly 2,000 companies studied, 56% of the companies experienced at least one CFO turnover in the five year span, and 16% experienced more than one turnover at the CFO position. At least 87 of the 2,056 companies analyzed saw high profile CFO shake ups.
CFOs at these retail brands were replaced in 2022: Nordstrom, Foot Locker, Tanger, Walmart, TJX, Performance Food Group, Dollar Tree, Kirkland, GameStop, Jo-Ann Stores, and Lowe’s. While the modern CFO has lived through unprecedented economic factors in the past few years, pay has steadily increased to meet (or exceed) this burden.
Average CFOs pay, involving salary, bonuses, stock awards and options climbed from $2.4 million in 2016 to $3.5 million in 2021 – a 40% increase. CFO stock awards jumped to 63% (up from 53% in 2016) of overall compensation in 2021. As the trends reveal, pay continues to shift towards stock awards, and away from salary, bonuses, and stock options.
Related: Financial wellness: The No. 1 requested employee benefit
The CFO has emerged as second only to the CEO in means of responsibility and accountability for a business’s performance. However, the pressure on the CFO is immense and this impacts their tenure in the role. According to current figures, the CFO is the most likely to exit the company compared to any other C-suite colleague. With more economic challenges ahead, the pain points fueling this mass turnover are unlikely to be satisfied this year.