Facebook parent Meta is planning to hire fewer new employees for the rest of 2022 than it had previously planned. Meta Chief Financial Officer, David Wehner, blames that at least partially on Apple’s iOS privacy changes.
Business Insider Business Insider reports that in a letter to Meta employees, Wehner said the company needs to “take another look at our priorities and make some tough decisions about what projects we go after in both the short and medium-term.” He also blamed the company’s slower than expected revenue growth for the last quarter on Apple’s ATT (App Tracking Transparency) framework.
Wehner said this change “will affect almost every team in the company,” adding “this will be an opportunity to reprioritize work to make sure we’re all focused on the most important things.” Wehner says he is still optimistic about what’s to come despite a turbulent last few quarters.
Wehner said that Meta is betting on its incorporation of AI into its ad business to help alleviate losses caused by (say it with me) Apple’s ATT framework. As of iOS 14.5, the ATT framework allows users to choose whether they wish to be tracked or not across apps and websites owned by other companies.
Meta, along with other app developers, have complained about the changes, with Meta continuing to be the most vocal against giving users that choice.