Re:The mainframe is alive and thriving
by lotsofpulp on Thursday March 11, 2021 @12:23PM
(#26426523)
The pay for people who know and understand mainframes is insufficient to incentivize people to become knowledgeable and familiar with mainframes.
It has nothing to do with bootcamps. If the mainframe knowledge was in sufficient demand, then they would be selling mainframe training too since people would be wanting to buy it.
Re:The mainframe is alive and thriving
by tablespoon on Thursday March 11, 2021 @12:30PM
(#26426613)
> It has nothing to do with bootcamps. If the mainframe knowledge was in sufficient demand, then they would be selling mainframe training too since people would be wanting to buy it.
A large part of that is probably due to American management practices, where the preference is to skimp on maintenance until they find themselves in a crisis. They don't want to pay for what they need, they want to pay for whatever is cheap.
Re:The mainframe is alive and thriving
by goatinaboat on Thursday March 11, 2021 @02:12PM
(#26427784)
The pay for people who know and understand mainframes is insufficient to incentivize people to become knowledgeable and familiar with mainframes
Maybe, but it may also be true that people simply aren't aware that mainframes exist or these jobs exist.
Could you even have bootcamps for mainframes?
There is a yearly Master The Mainframe competition for students (but anyone can participate, get an account and do the exercises and go through the materials). It's fun. z/OS is completely alien for someone who grew up in a Windows/Unix ecosystem.
Also IBM is launching a new program for students called "IBM Z ambassadors" trying to reach students and evangelize about mainframes... I know it because Im currently an IBM Z ambassador.
https://zambassador.com/
There were bootcamps for AS/400 in the 1990s.
Bootcamps saturating the market with webdevs armed with skills that barely last a year, when they could be training people with skills that would see them employed for a whole career.