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In the current age of austerity, banks outsourcing IT development work is a sad fact of life and – with tech budgets becoming even more strained this year – it seems logical to conclude that this will accelerate. However, banks may be more reticent to let go of their technology employees than you think.

In technology spending terms, Europe is the poor man of international banking. This year, banks in Asia-Pacific are likely to increase their tech budgets by 6%, those in the US will up their spend by 2.4% and those in Europe by a measly 0.3%, according to a new survey by consultants Celent.

This in itself isn’t great news for job prospects, but a whopping 87% of the $59.2bn Celent expects European banks to spend on IT this year will be on simply maintaining existing systems and regulatory demands are also expected to eat up a large chunk of the budgets.

In such a scenario, prospects for IT innovation seem slim. What’s more, it seems that some functions could be on a passage to India or Eastern Europe as outsourcing or offshoring becomes a more cost-effective solution.

However, banks are more likely to keep hold of their internal IT employees, says Celent.

“Political pressure may see some banks, particularly those in receipt of state aid, under pressure to retain jobs as long as possible and to retain domestic posts over those based overseas (that is, outsourced roles),” says the report. “Second, for both transformational projects and banks that have chosen to make do, a degree of ‘corporate memory’ is required.”

In short, if you’ve been with your current employer for some time, even if you’re relatively expensive, they’re more likely to keep you on. Your historical knowledge of a particular bank’s system is your greatest asset in the current climate.

“The cost of getting the alternative to speed, the risk associated, and the local labour laws make internal resourcing something that may well not be reduced in the way we had previously predicted,” says the Celent report.

If you’re thinking that a move to a bank in Asia could be a good bet, you may wish to reconsider. Our  Singapore site recently pointed out that demand for IT staff has slipped markedly in recent months and that most banks are only open to the idea of taking on contractors.