The growing use of the Internet and mobile devices in the workplace is creating a significant impact on job decisions, hiring and work-life balance," the report concluded. "The ability to use social media, mobile devices, and the Internet more freely in the workplace is strong enough to influence job choice, sometimes more than salary.

This research by Cisco could be a wake up call for many companies involved in the war for talent. However, its interesting to consider the attitude of many companies toward how people actually use social networks like Facebook, which is still quite negative (read the comments). But if Cisco is right, employers may need to think about both access and what their policy is towards what staff do on social media, if they want to create a workplace that is attractive to staff with high job mobility.

Hat tips to Venessa Peach and Peter Black.