Are you a technologist working in one of the UK banks that has received a government handout? Be afraid, very afraid….

A new report by the TowerGroup suggests that the UK’s banking industry is going to be split into two as a result of the government’s recapitalisation. Those which have received the bailout will be forced to adopt a low-risk business model, while those which have decided to go it alone will have a higher tolerance to risk, but face greater economic and competitive uncertainties.

The impact for IT, though, is decidedly grimmer at the banks who have accepted government money, at least in the short term. TowerGroup reckons it will mean banks will halt spending on technology until the second half of 2009, at the earliest.

HBOS already has plans to offshore around 2,000 technology jobs to centres in India by early next year, according to a recent report. Lloyds TSB, meanwhile, has said it intends to transfer 250 permanent IT jobs and 200 contractor positions to offshore centres by the end of the year.

The merger between the two banks is also set to impact technologists. Lloyds TSB expects to save 1.5bn annually from consolidation through its tie-up with HBOS, part of which will be within IT and will inevitably result in job losses.

Mark Fisher is due to start as director of group IT and operations at Lloyds TSB in 2009, having previously overseen the integration of ABN AMRO’s business into RBS as chief exec of the Dutch bank. He is expected to be given the thankless task of deciding which technology platforms and departments to retain, which to integrate, and which to ditch.

Lloyds TSB-HBOS says it is aiming for 430m in annual savings within wholesale and international banking by 2011 and these savings will include “integrating the processing capabilities and information technology platforms”.

Though RBS has yet to announce any widespread technology redundancies, it hired David Lister as chief architect back in April with the express aim of driving down technology costs.

Still, it seems that other UK banks’ IT staff aren’t exactly immune to cuts, either. Barclays Capital is due to axe around 40 people in its technology division.