Meta freezes new hires and blames iOS App Tracking Transparency and Russia-Ukraine war for low revenue growth.
Meta , the well-known tech company formerly known as Facebook Inc. , has reportedly told staff it will freeze new hiring as its revenue grew less than expected. The company claims the low revenue growth is partly due to privacy changes Apple introduced in iOS 14. It is, of course, referring to the App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature that became available in iOS 14.5.
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Apple introduced this feature to give users the ability to opt out of advertisers tracking their activity through apps. Facebook had harshly criticized Apple for adding this feature. Mark Zuckerberg was among the first to oppose Apple 's App Tracking Transparency feature , arguing that it would be a major blow to tech and advertising companies and would destroy small businesses.
Shortly after, Meta's CEO claimed that Apple's new privacy settings could ultimately be good for Facebook. In April 2021, Facebook warned investors that Apple's feature was hurting the company's revenue.
Now, according to Business Insider, Facebook's parent company, Meta, is trying to cut costs and has told staff it is freezing new hires.
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“While we are optimistic about the opportunities ahead, we must ensure we make focused, balanced investments to support our more strategic priorities,” Meta’s chief financial officer, David Wehner, said in an email to staff. “We are facing some issues, including slower revenue growth.”
“This is due to a number of factors, including changes to iOS, business challenges arising from the war in Ukraine , and the overall macroeconomic environment,” Wehner continued.
Wehner said that the recession pandemic has affected Facebook/Meta like all businesses, and that the company has to “make some tough decisions” about its short- and medium-term plans. However, that doesn’t mean that any hiring is out of the question, but Meta will “need to pause” hiring in certain engineering categories.
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Also as part of this “freeze,” the company is “cancelling future scheduled interviews” for some candidates. Existing employees may also be moved to different areas, as Meta will “now review staffing allocations to ensure they are aligned with the company’s top priorities.”
Source: appleinsider.com
