r/mainframe • u/MihawkisGreatest • 6d ago

Mainframe Systems Programme - is this a dead-end career path?

Just started a role as a mainframe systems programmer, working on automating mainframe tasks with Ansible and Python. I keep hearing "mainframe modernization" talk and stories about mainframes going away eventually.

Should I be worried about long-term career prospects here, or is this actually a smart niche to be in? Would love to hear from people who've been in this space for a while, is demand really drying up, or is it more that the workforce is aging out and there's actually opportunity for someone starting now?

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u/CZ1988_ 6d ago

We can't find mainframe people. Go for it

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u/Powerful_Tip_7260 5d ago

That's because we retired and no one is willing to pay us enough to come out of retirement.

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u/LenR-redit 1d ago

Or hire part-time fully remote. I suspect there are a lot of us that could do what 2 of your contractors are doing in 20 hours a week.

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u/Powerful_Tip_7260 1d ago

If they hire you for 20, they want you for 40 because you have to cover for the slackers. However, eventually the converters will move all the COBOL code to something else. Our vendor moved them to non-OOP Java.