[members-discuss] Response from Board on Charging Scheme Comments

On Thu, 2024-04-11 at 22:32 +0200, Ondrej Filip wrote:
> Dear members,
> 
> Thank you very much for your comments on the proposed Charging Scheme
> options. I am sorry I am not able to answer all your messages
> individually. It is not in my capability to do so. However, I want to
> assure you we read all your comments and take them seriously. In this
> message I will, of course, not address those comments that express a
> support for the board's proposal.
> 
> First of all, the board is carefully listening to the members. We
> opened several channels to collect your feedback. We had the RIPE NCC
> Survey followed by the Open House discussion, and both indicated that
> members want the RIPE NCC to continue with the current projects
> helping our primary mission, which is to support technical
> coordination in our region. I understand that some of you have
> different opinions but we need to also consider the wishes and
> opinions of the wider membership.
> 
> So we are preparing the Activity Plan and Budget in this regard. The
> discussion on this topic will be held in the Autumn. But whatever is
> the output of this discussion, the Charging Scheme should cover the
> expected company costs. Please note that a vast majority of our costs
> are related to salaries. That is something that we cannot get rid off
> quickly even if we decide to stop some of the projects. The RIPE NCC
> has to and will respect the local labour law in the Netherlands and
> other respective countries. We (the board and staff) will be very
> happy to discuss the usefulness of all activities, but again the
> survey very strongly indicated that the majority of the members does
> not want any radical change in this regard and is satisfied with the
> current NCC activities.
Salaries...
I appreciate the detailed explanation regarding the Activity Plan and
Budget. It's clear that a significant portion of the costs are tied to
salaries, which are understandably less flexible in the short term due
to compliance with local labor laws in the Netherlands and other
relevant countries.
However, I'd like to raise a concern that mirrors a trend seen across
many companies during the COVID-19 pandemic. During this period, some
companies experienced increased profit margins and consequently
expanded their workforce. Unfortunately, this led to overhiring, and as
profits normalized post-pandemic, these companies found themselves in a
position where layoffs became necessary. While I am not suggesting that
this is precisely the case with RIPE NCC, I believe it's a possibility
worth considering.

Furthermore, the membership fee increase linked to the "register as LIR
and receive the last /22" was clearly temporary. Assuming this would
lead to a permanent increase in resources, and overhiring based on that
might have been an oversight. This situation seems to illustrate a
broader issue of strategic planning where staffing levels were
increased based on optimistic projections that did not materialize as
expected.

Thanks
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