Facebook Access More Important Than Salary To Many Young Professionals

Escrow, stock options and the status update.

Indeed, as the Facebook generation establishes itself in the American labor market, it appears that its members are bringing their digital sensibilities to bear. Cisco Systems has just released its second annual "Connected World Technology Report." And the study reveals a series of data points that speak to the centrality of digital and mobile technology, as well as social media, to the professional expectations and habits of Generation Y.

But among the most glaring conclusions are the following two: 40 percent of college students and 45 percent of young professionals would accept a lower-paying job if it had more access to social media; a third of respondents consider the Internet as important as air, water, food and shelter. (Generation Y is roughly defined as having been born after Generation X -- some sources put the Gen Y starting point as the late 1970s and its end point as late as the beginning of the 21st century.)