5 Ways to Bridge the Mainframe Skills Gap

Looking ahead, mastering programming languages such as COBOL, CICS, and IMS will be a highly valuable and lucrative skillset for those seeking programming jobs. Programmers who choose to adopt and develop these skills could become among the most coveted tech experts in the IT industry.

To bridge the mainframe skills gap, companies should consider these five steps:

1. Market the importance and value of mainframe skills

2. Invest in mainframe education

3. Bridge the gap through technology investments

Technology can also play a role in addressing the skills gap. Unifying application development, testing, and deployment techniques and processes for cloud and mainframe developers by leveraging integrated DevSecOps tools can broaden access to mainframe technology. These shifts enable faster development and innovation and can help to grow the workforce.

4. Enable modern programming languages on the mainframe

Integrating applications running on the cloud with counterparts on the mainframe through modern web application programming interfaces (APIs) offers the added benefit of making the mainframe accessible to a newer, younger workforce. Enabling the use of more modern types of languages, such as Java or Python, through API integration allows applications to run on and off the mainframe. It ensures that young hires can be directly involved in the application, development, and maintenance (ADM) space.

5. Work with an IT services provider with mainframe capabilities

The steps are applied at our company, too. With more than 7,500 highly skilled and diverse mainframe experts who have earned more than 69,000 badges and 2,250 certifications, we are investing in their continued skills-building and education programs to support organizations as they need to deal with declining skills.

Originally published at https://www.informationweek.com.

Learn more news and updates related to the mainframe: https://www.maintec.com/weblog