Sara Skirboll, CareerBuilder Vice President and Career Expert, joins Yahoo Finance’s Sibile Marcellus in this week’s Career Control to discuss short-term job options and the drive behind job-hopping.

Video Transcript

- A record 4.3 million Americans quit their jobs in August. So why are so many people handing in their resignation? Here's Sibile Marcellus with the latest installment of Career Control. Sibile?

SIBILE MARCELLUS: A record number of workers are quitting their jobs. 4.3 million people quit. Now, according to a recent study by CareerBuilder, it's young people, young workers, who are leading this quitting spree in spite of the fact that they're in the early stages of their career.

Now, I want to bring in CareerBuilder vice president and career expert Sara Skirboll to break this down. Now, Sara, based on this research, millennials on average are spending about two years in a job. Meanwhile, baby boomers are spending about eight years. Why are millennials quitting their jobs so often?

SARA SKIRBOLL: Thank you so much for having me. Yes, it's pretty fascinating. And at CareerBuilder, we are constantly looking at the trends, analyzing data, and exactly what you said. This round of research is showing us that Gen Zers, millennials, the younger folks, the younger generations, are moving jobs.

And it's simple. They're looking for the same things that everyone's talking about-- better pay, better benefits, more flexibility. And frankly, a lot of these millennials and younger generations are really just evaluating what's most important to them. So maybe it is working remotely. Maybe it is something else. Maybe they're looking for a temporary job to get them to their next point in life.

SIBILE MARCELLUS: And Sara, why do baby boomers stay in their jobs longer? What's the advantage of spending nearly a decade minimum with one employer?

SARA SKIRBOLL: Yeah, so you just saw the research. Baby boomers are spending a little bit over eight years in one role. And the difference with this generation is that they value stability. They have a strong work ethic. So they like to be loyal. And they like to devote their time and their energy and their resources to one employer, which is why they get to that stage in their career where they're almost at the same company for close to 10 years.

SIBILE MARCELLUS: And remote work has made it possible for someone to be able to work at a job, stay remote, work for another company, and not leave your home, let alone your couch, working from home. So how has the rise in remote work because of the pandemic made it easier than ever to quit your job and job hop?

SARA SKIRBOLL: Yeah, exactly. It's easier than ever. So depending on if you're in a very expensive city, and you decide that you would like to change locations and change jobs, working remotely is sort of the new wave of work, if you will. So we really looked at some of the jobs where people are able to do their work remotely.

You know, another reason that people might want to change jobs, work remotely, maybe they have kids. Maybe they have an elderly parent. Maybe they're looking to further their education and study for-- to get into business school or medical school. There's a whole host of reasons why people are taking advantage and looking for remote work.

SIBILE MARCELLUS: And for millennials who want to quit their job, job hop, and find something that's more long lasting, what are some of the options out there?

SARA SKIRBOLL: Yeah. So we took a look at the research that shows us some of the longer-term jobs that people stay in for a little bit more than three years, which is what we're seeing millennials at-- software developer 11 years, truck drivers eight years, website developers eight years, building superintendents upwards of eight years. These are really stable jobs. People who get in them tend to really like them. They like the flexibility. They can possibly make their own schedules. And that's one of the reasons that people stay in them for such a long time.

SIBILE MARCELLUS: And for millennials who don't necessarily want to work a 90-hour week, what are some of the jobs out there with a shorter time commitment?

SARA SKIRBOLL: Yeah, so these are roles that I would suggest if you're looking for a temporary gig. So-- or if you're looking for a different life path. Maybe you want to mentor the youth, for example. So you see crew jobs 10 months. This could be working on a plane, on a bus, on a train, also youth workers 12-- 12 months. So maybe you want to make a difference in someone else's life, but you don't have a lot of time.

Also, field work 12 months, maybe you want to be-- or try out a field technician, field inspector, and then also quality control. This is 12 months. And something-- someone that might be in a quality control role might be going to different factories and doing just that. They are checking the quality of certain products.

SIBILE MARCELLUS: And Sara, what is your advice to employers who are worried about so many workers quitting their jobs and that would like to retain their millennial workforce and other workers, of course?

SARA SKIRBOLL: Absolutely. So it can be a little bit scary if you will. But you really got to take the pulse of your employees. Find out exactly what's most important to them. Is it different benefits? Is it working remotely? Is it having a hybrid schedule? So I'm always recommending that employers are polling their employees on a pretty consistent basis.

Because in these times-- we're still in the middle of a global pandemic-- checking in and understanding how they're feeling, what they're thinking, what's going on at home is really, really important to make sure that you're providing the best atmosphere for them to come, learn, do a great job, and feel good about what they're doing.

SIBILE MARCELLUS: Definitely important for employers to pay attention to what their workers' needs are. Sara Skirboll, great to have you on. Thanks so much.