It goes without saying that compensation and rewards professionals have faced a number of challenges between the fall of 2001 and the fall of 2002. An already-slipping economy tumbled downward after 9/11, putting pressure on salary budgets, bonus plans and merit raises. September 11 was followed just a few months later by huge corporate failures, numerous accounting scandals and highly publicized misdealings by executives. Of course, Congress and the regulators quickly got interested in many of these issues. All of these events have changed the face of the profession profoundly over the past year.