Tell your boss that this is what’s going on. They will try and keep you and move the lifers along somewhere else.

A transfer is not condemnation against the whole company so probably more palatable. How do you know the people aren't the same in other departments, or the bosses are terrible?

I've been with my employer for a few years and report directly to the director and their deputy. Both are terrific, the best bosses I've ever had. But the rest of the staff? A significant number of them are just not nice people. It's not an awful place to work, either, that would breed misery. It's a large org with great salaries and benefits, plenty of time off, room to grow, etc. A handful of them have been great, but others are unfriendly, cliquey, rude, overly critical, just not the kind of people I enjoy working with.

So, I want out. I'm asking for a transfer, and I think it will happen. It will be a lateral move, but I don't care. What should I tell my two supervisors who always sing my praises and want me there-- one even asked me not to leave a few weeks ago after a project went well. Because it's not them, it's everyone else. They're pretty new to the org, and the staff is made up of mostly lifers who've been there since the early 2000s. I'd just rather work with a nicer group of people who aren't so damn miserable. I wish I could say that, but I know I shouldn't.