Google introduced Hire in a blog post today. The app is part of the company’s G Suite portfolio of cloud-based business productivity software. It integrates with apps including Gmail and Google Calendar to streamline the process of filling a job opening.
Hire provides a single dedicated space to keep track of potential candidates, schedule intervals and monitor each individual’s progression through the hiring procedure. There’s also built-in talent finding tools to help you identify prominent people in your industry who could be a valuable addition to the team.
If you need to collaborate with a colleague while managing new hires, you can send an email straight from Hire. Any interviews you schedule in Hire will show up in Calendar. Hire also comes with built-in data analysis tools to let you identify the most suitable candidate for a role. This data can be exported to a Google Sheets spreadsheet.
Commenting on the launch, Google said that Hire is meant to simplify the recruitment process so businesses can operate more efficiently. The company cited a study by Bersin by Deloitte that found the average time required to fill a new position is 52 days. During this time, the business is unable to operate at its full capacity and could miss new opportunities.
“Hire makes it easy for you to identify talent, build strong candidate relationships and efficiently manage the interview process end-to-end,” said Google. “With the introduction of Hire, customers now have a hiring app alongside G Suite’s familiar, easy-to-use tools that can help them run an efficient recruiting process.”
The launch of Hire comes shortly after Google rolled out a built-in job searching tool to its search engine. Google is embarking on a “company-wide initiative” to tackle the problems around jobs from the perspectives of both the jobseeker and the employer It’s moving to cut established tools like LinkedIn out of the typical recruitment process, encouraging users to try its own products instead.
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Hire also reflects Google’s ongoing drive to add more value to its G Suite service. G Suite remains in stiff competition with Microsoft’s Office 365 which has recently rolled out new apps for small businesses. Google seems to be following Microsoft’s lead, exploring how it can add new products to G Suite that solve specific business problems.
Hire’s aimed at small and medium-sized businesses with under 1,000 employees. The app is available from today as part of Google’s wider G Suite offering. It’s currently limited to businesses in the U.S. and Google hasn’t specified a timeframe for a wider rollout.
