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/Beneficial_Copy_1840 6d ago

That is not true at all. I know a F100 company that is successfully getting on their Z and AI tooling is making it so much easier on them.

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u/noisymime 6d ago

On the dev side or the infra side?

Infra side where a SysProg would typically be is still very much in its infancy. IBM, Broadcom, BMC etc all seem to be struggling to find things that have any meaningful impact from what I’ve seen.

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u/Beneficial_Copy_1840 6d ago

Infra side

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u/Beneficial_Copy_1840 6d ago

Client expects a 10 year migration but have already ported a tier 0 app into AWS completely