In their Connected World Technology Report, Cisco surveyed 2,853 people split between college students and recently employed college graduates ages 21 to 29 in fourteen countries and asked them “How important is the Internet to you?” Cisco offered three options and asked respondents choose the best: (a) I could live without the Internet, (b) I could live without the Internet but it would be a struggle, or (c) I could not live without the Internet.

Among college students, 55% say they could not live without the Internet compared to 62% of those recent graduates with jobs. Over 30% in both categories say they could survive, but it would be a struggle. 40% of students rank the Internet as most important as compared to partying, dating, and music. 64% would rather have Internet access than a car. A big thing they rely on the Internet for is news, with 77% of students saying they get their news and other information from the Internet. TV comes in a distant fourth at 7% with newspapers, magazines and books behind that. The results are similar for the recently employed.

How is your business building an environment to support this new Internet generation of workers? Are your business apps web-ified? Can your data centers support mobile access to these applications on any device, anywhere? These will be critical components to recruiting the next top talent for your organization. Are you ready?