Mainframe specialists are retiring, is there a plan B?

Companies that use mainframes are facing a talent crisis. Current teams are very close to retirement, so if there are no changes, future operations will be significantly affected by generational change. 

Qualified professionals to work in Mainframe and manage this type of infrastructure are in short supply in the labour market and are approaching retirement age.

In this article we analyze How to solve the Mainframe talent shortage challenge and why it is a rapidly developing issue. We also provide information on what Mainframe analysts and Cobol programmers do and how much they earn, and where training programs are offered.

Mainframe: the eternal youth of a key infrastructure 

The problem linked to the shortage of talent in the Mainframe world It impacts a large part of the planet's economic and productive activity. 

This is due to the wide penetration of these devices in the main industries, their incomparable capacity to process large volumes of data, and their high level of trust and security. 

The report Mainframe 2020: A catalyst for transformation According to MIT Technology Review Insights, 881% of the banks in the World's Top 50 Banks ranking and 671% of the Fortune Top 100 Companies use these technological infrastructures.

To reinforce the level of incidence they have, Mainframes now handle nearly 70% of IT workloads of world production. 

And 90% of IT business executives identify them as a growing platform. 

Why is the Mainframe Talent Crisis in Full Swing?

The trend towards a decrease in available talent is clearly observed in relation to Cobol developers, one of the first programming languages widely used on Mainframes.

Cobol is still valid in many critical business applications, especially in the financial sector, running on mainframes and written in Cobol. 

A concrete example that illustrates the problem can be seen in the average age of Cobol developers and Mainframe specialists, which Worldwide, the age of the population exceeds 55 years. 

And, year after year, the average age is higher, to the point that currently 60% of Mainframe experts are over 50 years old.

The challenge clearly lies in developing new generations of experts, training them to work on Mainframe. 

A significant challenge, taking into account at least three factors: 

• There is little academic offering: Less than 301% of universities worldwide include Cobol teaching in their curriculumReading the data in reverse, more than 70% of technology degrees exclude this programming language from their curriculum.
• In the eyes of younger generations of developers, Mainframe and Cobol are not well marketed and are terms that They are mistakenly considered “old-fashioned”, although they are still absolutely valid, as we saw in the statistics mentioned. 
• There is an outdated perception that the Mainframe is an obsolete and outdated technology, although, as we explained, it is still essential in many companies and continues to evolve with new capabilities and features.

Regarding the Cobol programming language, its current relevance is justified by two issues: 

• It is the basis of a large number of systems still in use, in the world's major industries. 
• Due to the high cost and risk of rewriting or migrating these systems to more modern languages, Organizations continue to bet on Cobol.

As a result of this context of talent shortage, the global market is struggling in particular with the lack of senior profiles to work in Mainframe, and is thinking about the development of young professionals who can guarantee a transition in the face of the inevitable retirement of those who currently work in the sector. 

There is a significant amount of job opportunity in the specialization in Cobol and Mainframe. An ocean of potential jobs, with the almost complete assurance of having a job secured if you are a senior or semi-senior developer. 

We are undoubtedly facing a gap of expectation and opportunity:

• Organizations need to fill the positions left by workers who retire quickly and without losing competitiveness. 
• At the other end of the spectrum, there is a large amount of young talent eager to enter the IT world, but they have a hard time finding someone to guide and train them.

How to solve the Mainframe talent shortage challenge?

Some actions that could be promoted to resolve the gap in the lack of specialized talent to work in Mainframe infrastructures are the following:

• To offer more information about the mainframe world to current and future programmers, so that they consider specializing in a highly topical sector with broad employment opportunities.
• To give greater visibility to the needs of companies and the validity of Mainframe environments, showing the field of professional development and available jobs.
• Raise awareness among universities about the importance of connecting their academic proposals with market needs.
• Promote in-company training programs that allow programmers to acquire Mainframe and Cobol skills.

What do Mainframe Analysts and Cobol Programmers do?

A Mainframe Analyst is responsible for maintaining and managing computer systems based on these large-scale infrastructures. 

The duties of a Mainframe Analyst include:

• Installation, configuration and maintenance of Mainframe hardware and software.
• Monitoring system performance for ensure its effectiveness and availability. 
• Development and maintenance of specific programs and applications.
• Provide technical support and troubleshooting to ensure continued operation.

Cobol programmers, on the other hand, write and modify code to create programs that handle large volumes of data and critical business processes. 

Their responsibilities include:

• Understanding customer requirements, 
• design the program logic, 
• debug errors, optimize performance, 
• and maintain compatibility with legacy systems. 

Due to the longevity and wide adoption of Cobol in legacy systems, Cobol programmers play a vital role in the industry, ensuring the functionality and continuity of critical systems for many organizations.

What skills are required to work in Mainframe?

The job market for Mainframe management must cover a number of key needs to ensure the efficient and effective operation of these critical systems in companies. 

Some of these needs include:

• Capacity of diagnosis and troubleshooting, so that downtime is minimized and business continuity is ensured.
• Solid knowledge of computer security and regulatory compliance, including cybersecurity.
• Strong skills of project management, to coordinate system implementations, updates and maintenance.
• Adaptation to the emergence of new trends, such as process automation and the implementation of DevOps practices to streamline software development.

How much does a Mainframe analyst and a Cobol programmer earn?

The salary of a Mainframe Specialist or Cobol Programmer can vary significantly depending on several factors, including geographic location, work experience, educational level, and the size and type of industry of the employing company. 

In general, both profiles They usually have competitive salaries due to the specialization and experience required., and the shortage of professionals focused on these areas. 

In countries like the United States, according to job search websites like Glassdoor, Indeed and Payscale, the average salary ranges are:

• Mainframe Analyst: $70,000-$130,000 per year.
• Cobol developer: between $60,000 and $110,000 per year.

While Talent.com reports salaries in the same reference country:

• Mainframe programmer: $115,000 per year on average. Entry-level positions start at $96,652 per year, while more experienced professionals earn up to $143,100.
• Cobol developer: $114,400 per year on average. They start with an income of $95,983 per year. And the most experienced professionals earn up to $140,400.

In Argentina, a beginner Cobol developer can earn salaries of around 600,000 pesos per month. For more experienced profiles, The monthly salary rises to 2.4 million pesos per month.

Where are Mainframe and Cobol training programs offered?

With the intention of matching the needs of companies and vacant talent, in IT Patagonia We have been carrying out for many years a Comprehensive training and mentoring program in Mainframe and Cobol. 

In training, we attract young people motivated to enter the IT world and we accompany them in their learning process, with a team of mentors with extensive experience, which allows them to become high-performance professionals within a period of two years.

Leonardo Zrycki, IBM Champion 2024 zSystem, one of those mentors. About his experience, he says that “it is really exciting to participate in a project that not only federalizes and democratizes the knowledge of many generations of young professionals by providing them with job opportunities in technology, but also solves one of the most frequent demands of the industry.”

In addition, we work together with our partner Codeki We develop new specialized training proposals, such as Diploma in Mainframe Environment Management.

Conclusion

As they say, in every crisis there is an opportunity. 

In this case, companies are experiencing a talent crisis, and individuals have the chance to take advantage of a unique opportunity to enter the workforce in a sector that is in full swing and with enormous challenges ahead.

Those who specialize in managing mainframe infrastructures have excellent career development prospects.

Are you interested in working in Mainframe? Our Cobol Studio provides expert resources in analysis, design, development, quality control and implementation of IT solutions in Cobol language, on various platforms. 

Check out the active searches and join our team of code people.