Benjamin Guth of Mobilize talks job paths for millennials

Would you want to change jobs several times a year?

It's something that appeals to some millennials, according to a Toronto-based recruiter who believes this is the type of work some of the country's younger employees find fulfilling.

Benjamin Guth is the founder of Mobilize, a company that is putting many millennials in contact with employers across Canada.

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Specifically, Guth's company is helping place millennials in short-term jobs in far-flung places across the country — the kind of positions that temporary foreign workers have tended to fill in the past.

Guth, who is a millennial himself, said these workers are often looking for the chance to try out a career without having to commit to it.

When speaking with CBC Radio's Afternoon Drive on Monday, Guth explained some of the ways these young workers differ from the people who have been part of the workforce before them.

Here are some of the highlights from that conversation with Afternoon Drive host Bob Steele.

Past generations would look at a career and say: 'That's something I want to go to and I'm going to stick with it for my life. Why do millennials not look at it that way? Is it the lack of security that we're always told about in terms of, you know, long-term jobs?

It's actually quite the opposite. We're terrified of security. We're worried about making that long-term decision, just based on the example set before us by previous generations. We've lived through parents who have spent 20 years in one career path and given up on their dreams and missed opportunities because they were so attracted to that job security and that long-term career potential.

What we found is in our job postings, if we advertise long-term job growth or management-promotion opportunities within two to three years, you're going to see a significantly lower application rate than you would if you offered short-term placements.

And you've been successful in placing people, as you say, in some far-flung places?

Absolutely, we've found the secret sauce.

What we do at Mobilize Jobs, is we match young Canadians, between the ages of 18 to 30, into groups of four and every four to six months, we relocate them to a new employer to work in a different city doing a completely different job.

So, it changes the concept, the perception from working a summer job or working a seasonal position to exploring Canada, seeing the country, trying a number of different jobs in a wide range of industries in some very unique places. And it just so happens to be that some of more remote placements are some of our highest in demand.

Is this something you think millennials will continue to do throughout their lives? You know, bounce from one job to another?

I think even with professional, skilled individuals, the average employment length tends to be around two to three years right now. That's what we're seeing on a top end.

I believe we are looking for lots of opportunity to explore and experience. We are a generation of individuals who are not necessarily interested in working at the same place for 30 years.