(By Aparna Nancherla) The economic crisis is now common knowledge, even to those who avoid the media in an effort to escape hearing the latest bad news. The latest question on the table is how companies are handling the current situation, and across the globe, the answer is the same-organizations are hastily slashing budgets across a variety of areas.

Sixty-seven percent of European companies are planning to make changes to their budgets, according to Hewitt Associates, a global human resources and outsourcing consulting company. The rest of the world is not far behind, with Latin American companies at 63 percent, the Asia-Pacific region at 58 percent, and U.S. companies at 50 percent.

"What I find the most surprising is how rapidly companies are reacting to the economic downturn," says Peter Acker, North American leader of global rewards at Hewitt Associates. "Every region around the world is taking action given the economic situation."

To collect the data, Hewitt conducted surveys across 40 countries between October and December of 2008, covering more than 2,000 companies and 25 million employees.

Results showed that the Asia-Pacific region plans to make the most severe cuts in pay, with reductions to pay raises averaging between 1.7 and 5.2 percent, as compared to projections made earlier in 2008. In Latin America, companies are reducing pay raises by an average of 1 percent, and in Europe and the United States, the figures average, respectively, 0.9 percent and 0.7 percent.

Read more in the upcoming April 2009 T+D Re:Search column!