Technology is changing all aspects of people’s way of lives and work habits, which constitute a big part of life, are changing as well. To investigate this issue, Cisco conducted a survey to examine how the social media, mobile devices and the internet are affecting people’s job decisions.

The survey polled 1,441 college students and 1,412 young employees from the ages 18-29 in 14 countries around the world. It focused on young people from the workforce (or that about to join the workforce) because they are the biggest consumers of technology and their answers can provide the most relevant conclusions and general state of mind. Here are the survey main findings:

Social Networking At Work
About 66% of college students will ask during job interviews about the company’s social media policies. 56% will not take a job at a company that not allowing social networking (or they will just bypass it). 33% prefer using the social media freely and mobile device flexibility over salary.

Attractive Conditions
41% of employees believe that companies are offering flexible mobile device possibilities and (attractive) social media policy to recruit them. Almost 33% consider mobile devices and social media policies as a factor of joining a company.

Devices
80% of college students want to choose their own devices for work. 33% of employees are using at least 3 devices for their jobs. 68% of employees and 71% of college students think that devices at work should be used for social networking and for personal use. Half of all participants prefer losing their wallet than losing their mobile device.

Working From Home
60% of students believe they have the right work remotely (work at home) with a flexible schedule. 70% believes working regularly at office is unnecessary. 25% think that they will be more productive if they would work from home.

Conclusions

More and more young people are considering social networking and mobile devices as a regular conditions of working in a company, in some cases it is even better and more important than money. Additionally, young people perceived working at home as a right they should have.

Here’s a nice infographic released by Cisco, summarizing the report findings: