A significant number of people are using the social network sites for work-related tasks which include research on potential employees and generating new business, a report by global HR firm Manpower stated.

However, a majority is using these sites for personal reasons, with 83 per cent of people studied logging on to stay in touch with friends through them.

While 17 per cent use the sites to research for potential employers, 10 per cent for networking and generating new business and 17 per cent for other work-related reasons.

"Growth of this new medium is rapid. In future, due to huge Internet penetration and younger profile of our country expansion will further accelerate," Manpower India managing director Naresh Malhan said.

Experts believe in today's competitive world, it is important to target active as well as passive job seekers.

"About 30 per cent of the job market in the country is represented by passive job seekers, while about just 15-20 per cent are very active," HR service provider PeopleStrong CEO Pankaj Bansal said.

The passive market can be tapped through the networking sites such as Orkut and Facebook as people using it for personal reasons and not at present looking out for a new job may get attractive opportunities through the websites, Bansal said.

Technology is making it easier for companies to get to the population they want to get to, but they are not as adept as they need to be at finding the people they really want, Malhan said in a white paper on Technology Trends.

According to a separate Manpower report 'Virtual World of Work', use of social networking sites such as Facebook and Friends Reunited is the most popular among those under 35-year-old. About 74 per cent of those studied and aged 16-24 use such sites.

Some older people are also fans of these sites. One in five of those aged between 35-44 of age (19 per cent) and 21 per cent of those between 45-54 of age also make use of social networking sites.

The report also reveled that as the virtual world of work becomes increasingly attractive, people are expecting changes in the workplace over the next 10 years. The results reveals that 87 per cent think technology would play a bigger role in how people work.

About 85 per cent of those surveyed think people would hold more meetings via phone/Internet, while 81 per cent believe people would work from home on a more regular basis.