As organizations begin planning for the 2027 compensation cycle, compensation and Total Rewards leaders are navigating a complex mix of economic uncertainty, labor market shifts, business pressures, and employee expectations. This webinar begins with an economic outlook designed specifically for compensation professionals, highlighting the key trends, indicators, and market forces that may influence salary budget decisions in the year ahead.
Following the economic overview, a panel of compensation and Total Rewards practitioners from diverse industries will share how their organizations are approaching salary budget planning, the factors shaping their recommendations, and the challenges they're working through today. The session will conclude with an interactive Ask Me Anything discussion, giving attendees the opportunity to pose questions directly to the panel.
Whether you're building recommendations, preparing for leadership conversations, or finalizing budget assumptions, you'll leave with practical insights and real-world perspectives to help guide your planning process.
Rachel brings over 20 years of experience in academia and the public sector, with the last decade dedicated to Human Resources. She spent 11 years as a subject matter expert (SME) in compensation, developing and managing a structure that supported over 30,000 employees. More than three years ago, Rachel transitioned from SME to Director of Classification and Compensation for all Wisconsin State employees outside academia—a move that required patience, perseverance, and fortitude. Her journey from analyst to leader has equipped her with unique insights into career growth, team management, and strategic planning. Today, Rachel is passionate about helping others navigate the path from individual contributor to leadership. She holds a SHRM-CP certification and a Master of Arts in Human Resources Management with a focus on Strategic Planning from Concordia University.
Warren Mueller has been a Broad-based Compensation practitioner at Professional Services firms for over 15 years, often leading Compensation departments through transformation and change while maintaining a focus on the core value the team provides, such as the annual process and market data/benchmarking. He is currently the President of the Chicago Compensation Association and is located outside of Chicago, Illinois on 5-acres that he doesn't know what to do with.
Jennifer Hassrick, MS, CCP, GRP, is a Vice President and Compensation Consultant with Segal’s Compensation and Career Strategies practice and is based in Madison, Wisconsin. She brings nearly 20 years of experience helping organizations across industries—from manufacturing to nonprofits to the public sector—make sense of compensation strategy, job architecture, and pay equity.
Jennifer works closely with organizations across the country and understands the dynamics and talent challenges employers are navigating right now. Her work focuses on helping organizations build practical, market-aligned compensation programs—from salary structures to pay equity analyses—that actually work in the real world.
In addition to her consulting career, Jennifer has built several successful businesses from the ground up and has a deep respect for the decisions that leaders need to make every day.
Andrew Flowers is the Chief Economist at Appcast, the global leader in programmatic recruitment advertising technology and services. He is the founder of Recruitonomics.com – a hub for data-driven research that aims to help business leaders navigate the recruitment challenges they face caused by broader economic forces. He also manages the Appcast Data & Insights team – a team of economists, data scientists, and analysts that serve Appcast clients’ data needs.
A recognized expert on economic policy and the U.S. labor market, he has nearly 20 years of industry experience. Prior to joining Appcast, Flowers was an economist at Indeed, on the Hiring Lab research team; and before that he was the quantitative editor at FiveThirtyEight, Nate Silver’s data-driven news website. He began his career as an economic research analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. He holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Chicago and an M.S. in Applied Economics from Boston College.
