Google has finally unveiled its Google Suite-powered Hire recruitment platform in the UK, more than six months after it was launched in the US.

The platform was first announced at Google I/O in June 2017 and was released a year later in its key markets (ie., the US).

It’s an HR automation platform that allows headhunters and in-house recruiters to easily identify talent to fill job roles, building on the company’s existing collaboration tools.

For example, recruiters can contact potential talent via Gmail, schedule interviews and other tasks, such as induction days using Google Calendar and track candidate progress through Sheets.

But possibly the more useful tool for recruiters is finding talent by trawling through information sources, such as the CVs provided by candidates and past touch points with the company. So if someone wasn’t right for a particular role before they may well be suited second-time around. This is known as Candidate Discovery in the world of Google.

“There’s a huge opportunity for technology—and AI specifically—to help people work faster and therefore focus on uniquely human activities,” said Berit Hoffmann, senior product manager of Hire, when the service was first launched last year.

“Ultimately, that’s what Hire is all about, and the functionality…demonstrates our commitment to help companies focus on people and build their best teams.”

The reason it’s taken so long for Google to launch its Hire platform in the UK is that it had to ensure all of its features were GDPR-compliant. The company explained that its taken a long time coming, but now it ticks all the compliance boxes, Hire’s rollout across Europe will be much smoother.