2025 will be an uncertain year for Forrester Research, especially for its analysts. Unless the company’s financial outlook improves, layoffs must be inevitable.

Much has already been written about Forrester’s loss of momentum. Vendor spending is down and its events business has struggled to regain momentum post-Covid.

It’s a worrying time for Forrester analysts – especially as inquiry volumes are also down. According to Destrier’s analysis of inquiry data from one quarter this year, Forrester analysts fielded just 1% of the number of inquiries taken by their Gartner counterparts.

That’s shockingly low.

It’s also a vicious circle: If Forrester’s research reaches a dwindling number of tech buyers, its influence will wane. Therefore, AR professionals will be less prepared to invest in responding to Forrester research requests.

Forrester still has some great analysts on the team, but how long can they stay if this situation does not improve? As revenue falls, the company’s wafer-thin margin may drop into a loss-making situation, which usually means layoffs.

Forrester’s analyst headcount fell by around 5% in 2024 – a pretty standard number. But at the start of 2025, Forrester will lose its place as the third-biggest analyst firm by analyst headcount, with Everest Research set to overtake.

This is the second in a series of 2025 predictions for the tech analyst industry from Destrier, a leading independent provider of Analyst Relations advisory services and support to tech vendors. Working across multiple clients in various areas gives us a unique insight into the industry analyst firm landscape – and fuels these predictions.

Follow Destrier on LinkedIn for more predictions in the coming days – and if you’d like to take a deeper dive, contact us.