The IT budget remains constrained, but some projects are seen as mission critical. So what to do? Follow the time-honored path and start hiring more IT consultants. Which is what seems to be going on now. Hiring seems to be bouncing off its recent lows at many Wall Street firms. [1] In fact, some media reports have noted that the job losses weren't as bad [2] as many predicted. 

Nevertheless IT workers--who in tough times are really seen as mission critical at the rank-and-file level and remain on the frontline [3]--do not seem to be a hot hiring category. Perhaps this reflects the use of consultants, which are being used at many firms [4] amid a sense that banks may be souring on offshoring.

My sense is that lots of small--to medium-sized IT projects at top banks are quite specific in nature and generally pay pretty well. Small consulting firms ought to think now about getting in the door, especially if you have a specialty in risk management, compliance, cloud computing and the like. 

Related Articles:
How bad will Wall Street job cuts be? [5]
Job loss estimate at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch heads higher [6]
Morgan Stanley cuts jobs, plans retail bank launch [7]
Sarbox pushing IT salaries higher [8]