Last week, I sat on a panel of community business leaders at a local high school. I was one of six invited to talk about work skills that students will need in the next 10 years. Represented were two high-tech companies, a bank, a biotech outfit, and my editorial staffing company, Staffwriters.

To a person, the panelists said their top requirement for candidates is "flexibility." In my position — at the nexus of the job market — I hear that a lot. It's a euphemism for willingness to work your butt off and think on your feet. "Nine-to-five?" laughed one panelist. "Forget about that, because that's way gone."

Lately, I've heard a new buzzword from employers: "energy level." As in: "He seemed bright enough, I guess... He just had a low energy level." This can mean many things, such as: "The candidate you sent us fell asleep in the waiting room," or "He/she became strangely anxious after the fourth straight hour of interviews." It may mean the candidate asked such kiss-of-death questions as: "How long are lunch breaks, and how much vacation do I get?" The person may also have seemed too concerned about business travel. Then there's the disqualifier that companies only talk about in code: the candidate was too old.

Actually, "energy level" and "flexibility" increasingly mean that an employee will work six days a week. In my office — which I share with a growing Internet service provider and Web developer — most people work six days a week, and some work seven. It's expected, plain and simple. I'm always working on Saturdays. The new workforce is like a swarm of bees creating a new hive, doing whatever it takes to build it.

Obviously, that kind of time commitment makes it hard to do much else. Outwardly, companies never say they're looking for that. No client has ever told us to only send candidates who will sacrifice most of their personal needs to work there. Yet often, that's the underlying message when we hear that an unsuccessful candidate had a "low energy level" or "isn't a corporate fit."

EXTRACTING VITAL INFO. Penetrating this coded language is one of the tough things about this business. Yes, this job market has created a huge demand for our services. At the same time, we're often hard-pressed to extract the vital information our applicants will need to succeed in an interview. One reason is the increasingly litigious nature of employer-employee relationships. I see that from two different sides, as an employer of others and as someone running a staffing agency. Companies are so afraid of touching on issues that might be construed as excuses to discriminate that they don't communicate their expectations very well. As a result, human-resources policies that only a lawyer could understand replace common sense and forthrightness.

There was a day when an employer could hire and fire at will, no questions asked. Walking through Manhattan once, I happened upon a restaurant owner having a spirited conversation with his chef, in Italian. He was on a balcony, and the chef was loading a small van below. Suddenly, the owner put the back of his fingers to his chin and gave the classic Italian gesture as he said: "You fired...fired."

I thought, "I wish I could do that." Some employees deserve it. Why shouldn't an employer have the right to fire without keeping a four-inch binder cataloging the reasons. After all, you're paying the person, right?