Introduction
The 2025 fee hike is driven primarily by RIPE NCC’s rigid cost base—above all, a payroll that continued to expand even as the member-base stalled and then slipped. The mismatch points to structural governance and planning weaknesses that must be addressed if similar crises are to be avoided.
Key facts (2021-2023)
Average staff (FTE)
- 2021 – 161.9 FTE (ripe.net)
- 2022 – 172 FTE
- 2023 – 180.7 FTE
Active members
- 2021 – 20 015 members
- 2022 – 20 231 members (+1.1 %)
- 2023 – 20 077 members (-0.8 % y/y; below 2021 level)
Forward planning signals that were ignored
- The 2022 Activity Plan explicitly forecast a net loss of 500 LIRs and still budgeted 186.8 FTE (-10 % income, +10 % head-count) ([ripe.net][2])
Efficiency trend – members-per-employee fell from ≈124 (2021) to ≈111 (2023), a 10 % productivity drop while fees rose.
Topics for discussion
- Immediate hiring freeze – halt net growth until member/FTE ratio returns to ≥2021 levels.
- Role re-allocation – redeploy surplus head-count to revenue-positive lines (training, data-as-a-service, sponsorship acquisition).
- Transparent workforce dashboard – quarterly publication of FTE by function and geography.
- Cost elasticity policy – link future staff expansion to trailing-twelve-month membership growth.
- Diversified revenue – explore tiered premium services (Atlas SLA tiers, RPKI managed hosting) to decouple income from pure membership fees.
- External audit of workforce planning – independent review of the HR forecasting model that justified the 2022-23 hiring wave.
Analysis
RIPE NCC kept hiring despite clear contraction signals. The 2022 Activity Plan already priced in member shrinkage yet authorised a double-digit staff increase. One year later, the forecast loss materialised and fee income stagnated, forcing a blanket fee rise. The root causes appear to be:
- Inertia in multi-year programme budgeting – once a project head-count was approved, reductions were politically harder than fee hikes.
- Over-optimistic new-LIR assumptions – the waiting-list incentive masked an underlying consolidation wave; closure rates (-2 780 LIRs in 2023) outpaced sign-ups.
- Governance gap – Executive Board oversight relied on annual rather than rolling forecasts, delaying corrective action.
Recommendations
| Priority | Measure | Target | Owner | Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P1 | Freeze net hiring and defer open requisitions | FTE ≤ 175 | HR & MD | Immediate |
| P1 | Launch zero-based review of all 2024 OPEX lines | 5 % OPEX cut without service impact | Finance | Q3 2025 |
| P2 | Convert 15 % of general staff to revenue-generating programmes (training, Atlas SaaS) | +€2 M non-fee income | MD | Q1 2026 |
| P2 | Publish quarterly “staff-to-member” KPI | Restore ratio to ≥120 | Finance | Q4 2025 |
| P3 | Commission external audit of workforce planning model | Board briefing | Exec Board | Nov 2025 |
Next steps
- Circulate this paper on members-discuss and ncc-services-wg for community feedback.
- Table a motion at the next General Meeting to mandate the P1 actions.
- Request the Executive Board to include a detailed downsizing plan in the 2026 Draft Activity Plan.
Implementing the above will stabilise fees, restore trust, and refocus RIPE NCC on member value rather than payroll growth.
[2]: https://www.ripe.net/publications/docs/ripe-773/ “RIPE NCC Activity Plan and Budget 2022” — RIPE Network Coordination Centre"