For a technology giant which aims at organising the world’s information and making it accessible to people, it is not very surprising that it will also now be launching Google for Jobs, an initiative which would not just be listing the jobs for the white collar workers, but would be providing job postings relevant to all people of any age or experience.

And as Sundar Pichai introduced the initiative, “Google for jobs is our commitment to using our products to help people find work,” Sundar Pichai during the keynote address.”

But what is extremely interesting is that this particular feature is a combination of Google’s ongoing developments in the field of artificial intelligence and its established search engine capabilities, and is a celebration for the job seekers world over.

The genesis

Last November, Google had announced a jobs API, and when Google started working on it, they realized that people often search for jobs on Google but they type in different terms referring to the same job role. It then started the work with its partners which include Monster, Glassdoor, CareerBuilder and LinkedIn to understand more about what exactly are people looking for. This API is capable of recognizing which of the terms refer to the same job profiles and clustering them together. This will make searching for jobs far more efficient and will also prevent people from missing out on jobs. This particular feature would get installed as part of the search function.

And as Sundar Pichai said, “No matter who you are, or what kind of job that you are looking for, you will find the job postings that are right for you.”

But what is extremely interesting is that ‘Google for Jobs’ is a moniker which was previously being used by Indeed, the largest aggregator of jobs currently in the world. This is also being seen as a direct hit for Indeed which would likely be the most affected by this move. And the biggest reason for the same, as Sundar Pichai already spoke of it during his keynote address, is that people are already using Google search to look for jobs.

Google's strength lies in its search capabilities

As reported in this analysis, there have been complains by employers worldwide about Indeed’s job listing being ranked higher on the Google search page than the one on their own career pages, and in all probability, Google would leverage its existing search capabilities to bring more visibility to the original job postings on its website.

Another thing to ponder about it is that most job portals around the world are posting the same jobs, and there is duplication of content, which Google would not be encouraging on its own aggregated job postings to create the best experience for the user. Only the job portals which have a good share of native postings on their network should benefit from Google’s aggregation of jobs, as they would be the most likely to receive traffic directed from Google, being the original source of content.

And as experts have pointed out, Google would be sourcing job postings from its partners, but it is extremely likely that it would also tie up with the employers directly in the long run for postings on its search engine. 

But what truly puts Google in an advantageous position is that unlike other job portals for whom getting jobs posted on their websites is a task and job postings are their major source of revenue, Google does not need people to post on its network, rather for it, the information is readily available, and all it needs is to index it according to the relevance to the user and probably the urgency of the employer. It would be very similar to how it does with everything else.

Integrated user interface across job portals

Sundar Pichai, in the keynote, also talked about how users will have the option to apply through a single button ‘Apply’. The exact details of how this would work are still not clear but what this hints at is that Google would probably be tying with its partners, and also the employers to develop an integrated user interface. But what it also hints at and which by far more important than any other development in this space, that Google would be giving LinkedIn and Microsoft tough competition in the job search space.

Considering that candidates would have the option to apply for jobs through Google, they would also be making professional profiles which would be ready to use as when they click on the ‘Apply’ button.

In the future, it would not be surprising for many of us if Google provides a host of services to both the job seekers and the employers, and has a ready workforce looking for employment opportunities to generate revenue from.