More than 64% of employers expect staffing levels to remain steady in this year’s second quarter, according to a recent CareerBuilder survey. Just 14% said they plan on adding staff. Another 14% will reduce the number of employees, and 7% aren’t sure.

As for 2009 so far:

• 13% of employers increased headcount in the first quarter
• 16% reduced headcount, and
• 60% saw no change.

Companies’ salary plans for this quarter follow a similar pattern:

• 46% expect compensation to stay flat
• 29% expect to give raises averaging from 1% to 3%
• 12% expect raises to range from 4% to 10%
• 1% will give raises greater than 10%, and
• 5% expect compensation to decrease.

A recent study in the UK found that by far the heaviest drinkers were those employed in the media, but IT staffers aren’t far behind.

The study, by the country’s National Health Service, found that media workers consume the equivalent of more than four bottles of wine (or more than 19 pints of beer a week).

Media folks drink an average of 44 units a week, around double the recommended limit.

The maximum recommended alcohol consumption for men, according to NHS, is 21 to 28 units a week –- three to four units a day. For women, the maximum is 14-21 units a week – two to three units a day.

People in the profession also drink 10 units more a week than the next heaviest drinking professionals –- IT workers, who also consume more than the recommended limit, with 34 units a week.

Next on the list are service-sector workers at 33 units, and people in finance, insurance and real estate at 29 units.

People working in education, transport and travel are the country’s most moderate drinkers, consuming an average of 24 units a week, although that’s still above the recommended limit for women and around the maximum for men.

Recruiter Jim Stroud recently conducted a survey about the use of online job boards among recruiting and HR pros. No surprise, most of them use these boards.

But satisfaction with the tools is low. When asked if the “pay to post” model most sites use was valuable, 33.9% disagreed and 32.2% strongly disagreed.

And when asked if most boards give employers and job seekers a quality resource, 42.7% disagreed and 32.4% strongly disagreed.

If satisfaction is so low, what are recruiters doing instead? Many have started focusing on niche job boards or posting to free classified sites.

Yes, though the stress seems to be building, according to a recent ComputerWorld survey.

Here are the answers to the questions the survey asked:

1. Are you making enough money?

• Most are happy with their salaries — 43% say they’re satisfied, and 17% are very satisfied.
• Only 3% say they’re very dissatisfied, but
• 25% said they’re less happy about their pay than they were a year ago.

2. How’s your job security?

• Only 11% feel they’re jobs aren’t secure.
• 25% said they feel more secure than they did last year.
• Just 14% feel less secure, and the rest feel the same.

3. Is your work too stressful?

• 85% of IT pros report having stressful jobs. Just 1% said their jobs are not stressful at all.
• Fortunately, though, 21% said they feel less stress than a year ago. That’s less than the 19% who feel more stress.

4. Overall, are you satisfied?

• 65% of those surveyed are satisfied with their jobs.
• An equal amount (21%) reported being more and less satisfied than last year.

Read the full results from ComputerWorld here.

Using technology.

In a recent survey, software firm Vurv asked 779 executives to assess their HR managers and describe the areas they’d like to see improvement in.

Though the mastering of technology wasn’t ranked as a top challenge, the execs surveyed clearly saw room for improvement. When asked how their people were at using HR technology, only 22% said “expert.”

In contrast, 20% said “novice,” with the rest saying “intermediate.”

What do they want specifically? The most common response was a better use of the Internet to find new employees.

You can read the entire report here. (Free registration required.)