The worst-kept secret in town is that E-V-E-R-Y-B-O-D-Y is looking for a new job.

And we mean everybody, especially those who are currently employed by some of the biggest players around.

After years of sitting tight in a wishy-washy economy, folks are no longer reluctant to make the first move when it comes to their careers.

There's a definite buzz in the air. Phones are ringing, and e-mails are dropping. Our informal networks are chattering away about new opportunities. For many managers, the ability to recruit talent, as well as lose it, has once again become a priority. And it is truly about time, because there is also a great deal of not-so-quiet whispering about how awful local workplaces have become as a result of New England's harsh economic pattern.

Organizations have been asking their customers, consumers, clients, and patrons to suffer through reduced resources, boneheaded benchmarks, and execution errors. Service, to be frank, stinks at every level in every industry. So does morale. As studies show time after time, the two go hand-in-hand.

Here's what we learned from this latest economic downturn: you cannot have one person doing the job of six people and expect productivity to continue to flow. The bottom line can only be squeezed so far before the permanent damage is done. So today's job market is not only populated by laid-off workers whose former employers are struggling to return shareholder value every quarter but by current employees of these same firms who have been trying so very, very hard to perform in the wake of the cuts and the mergers. This is the population, overcome by stress and aggravation of the new realities, who appear to be most aggressive right now about moving on and moving out.

It's the ugly risk of not hiring: too many mistakes, failed expectations, and bitter disappointments. And managers need only talk to their external and internal audiences to see the impact.

If senior executives think their lean and mean teams are going to continue to work harder and smarter, they are fools. It can't and won't happen. The value of the brand will erode quicker than Donald Trump can say "You're fired!"

Frustrated workers have decided they must stop earning a living and start having a professional as well as a personal life. Hence they go after the employment quest loaded with customized demands that range from "I don't want to work for an idiot" to "I'm not here to make friends" to "I want an 8-hour day."

The new perk for these emotionally exhausted employees would be the ability to opt out of answering company e-mail on weekends without fear of reprisal. And the ultimate bonus would be the ability to shut off the cell phone, Blackberry, or other wireless device early mornings and late evenings.

These attributes are not necessarily what hiring managers and senior executives want to hear. And depending on the honesty level of the interviews, they may not be vocalized. But they will be part and parcel of every step of the hiring process because this employment market has had the passion pounded out of it over the last three years. Ideally, maybe, someday work will be fun again. But for now, the best part of getting a new job is not the power or paycheck or lifestyle upgrades it packs. The best part is simply that it's not the old job.

Managers who want to recruit new employees must be able to factor this cultural phenomenon into their pitch. Managers who want to retain their workforce must also leverage these perspectives, and address and if necessary, correct, the driving forces underneath them. There are some really smart people out there who will indeed jump ship not for the money or the title or the prestige but simply because they can no longer bear the inane and insane process they must go through to order office supplies, replace a piece of technology or, even (egads) improve and enhance operations.

Higher-up types who have been lulled into a sense of security because market conditions have to date suppressed the desire of team members to roam need to be mindful that those days are rapidly coming to an end.

Happy days are almost here again.