We've written about it here and seen it on other sites as well, but in case you missed it, the threat of an employee exodus, a mass departure of workers from their current employers, is becoming more and more real.

As the economy shows signs of improvement, companies start thawing out from the hiring freezes they had in place throughout the Great Recession. As the number of job opportunities increase, employers are growing increasingly concerned that they will lose their talent.

Just how concerned are they?

According to survey results recently released by CareerBuilder, 32 percent of employers are worried about losing their high performing workers in Q2 2010, and 33 percent of workers said it is likely they will start looking for a job when the economy picks up. Dissatisfaction with pay, work/life balance, and career progress has increased over the past year, and many workers will consider a career change to find improvements in these areas.

The Wall Street Journal recently announced as well that companies are starting to get more aggressive with salary and financial incentives, accelerating distribution of raises and giving special bonuses to some employees, following a prolonged period of pay cuts or freezes and low-budget incentives.

The decision to increase financial rewards comes simultaneously with the results of a Towers-Watson survey of human resources executives. Of the respondents, 15 percent revealed that it has already become more difficult to retain key talent than it was before the crisis, and 51 percent expect retaining talent to become even more difficult by January 2011.

So which organizations will fall victim to the talent wars? And which are best poised for success?

Last week, The Wall Street Journal recalculated the cost of big layoffs. The article reported on a December survey conducted by Duke University and CFO magazine that found 46 percent of the executives questioned believed their companies had taken actions -- more specifically, "deep cuts in work force" -- that could hurt their long-term growth potential.

What's more, analysis by Wayne Mascio, a business professor at the University of Colorado at Denver, concludes that those companies that responded to a recession with aggressive layoffs experienced decreased profits and stock returns in the years following.

Greg Savage over at RecruitingBlogs.com highlights the key role talent management will be for organizations in the coming months. The talent world has changed forever, and employers need to be strategic about the type of talent they hire, and the relationships they build with their employees.