"I don't buy for one second that anything not covered by trade secrets, patents, or nda ought to be protected. You bought the employees labor for a finite duration not the contents of their skull."

+ My point is nearly everything that you learn at a company could be considered a 'trade secret' - depending on the company or project.

In the example I gave, I listed a variety of situations in which minute operational skills and knowledge, all contribute to be 'key information' regarding the development of the product, and can essentially be 'trade secrets'.

Ergo - it would be nary difficult to work for a competitor and not give that information up.