Historically, incentive programs have endured economic downturns.
According to a review of past Incentive Federation and industry studies, the incentive industry managed to grow following the recessions that occurred in the late 1980s, after Sept. 11, 2001, and during the downturn of the late 1990s dot-com collapse.

Source: www.incentivecentral.org, Why Incentive Programs Endure Recessions