Young Developers Get Old Mainframers’ Jobs

“My co-worker, Tim, explained that our company, a major software
vendor, is seeing its mainframe workforce rapidly approaching the
age of retirement. Tim said IBM and most other firms whose
businesses depend on mainframes are also dealing with this
industry-wide problem.

“Since the 1980’s, PC’s and UNIX machines were supposed to have
taken over the computing world, relegating mainframes to the scrap
heap alongside rotary-dial telephones, suitcase-size boom boxes,
and Plymouth Reliants. Indeed, most mainframes from that era have
been consigned to the scrap heap – only to be replaced by
bigger and faster mainframes.

“Today the number of mainframes is estimated to be 10,000. Since
2000, the processing power of mainframes has quadrupled in terms of
MIPS. According to IBM, the top 25 world banks run mainframes, 80%
of the world’s corporate data resides or originates on mainframes,
and 71% of global Fortune 500 companies are mainframe clients.”

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