Re: Is COBOL still "dead"? Thoughts?

The company I worked with for 20 + years was a COBOL shop. When they
closed their doors for other reasons I had to look for employment. To get
a COBOL job I would have had to move out of the area. Indiana was the
closest job

I took an RPG job, and since I had RPG in school, was able to be productive
withing 30 to 45 days. I was also hired because I have IBM i system
experience with PTFs, the HMC and trouble shooting. I have been here now
for 5 1/2 years.

Jim Essinger
Western Power Sports
Boise, ID




On Tue, Apr 29, 2014 at 3:08 PM, Jorge Colon <jorge@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

I work with a COBOL developer and I've been interested in the industry.
Read some articles and found a lot of "COBOL is dead" articles and how
developers with 2 to 3 decades of experience are not able to find a COBOL
job without having to relocate (perhaps even several times). They seldom
have an option for telecommuting, COBOL jobs are being shipped to India,
and some learn newer programming languages, but don't get enough experience
to get hired. Some even temporarily relocate away from the family just to
survive. It's almost like starting your whole career again from scratch.

Here's an article on dice:
http://news.dice.com/2012/08/28/mainframe-talent-shortage and this forum
with developers venting
http://www.indeed.com/forum/job/Cobol-Developer/other-non-computer-career-changes-can-go-into-since/t66746

How true does this ring? Do you have personal stories or friends with a
similar situation that you could share?

P.S. Hey Jim Oberholtzer! Caught you on this mailing list. :)

P.S.S. I posted in the cobol400-l mailing list since my question is around
COBOL, but I also posted to the midrange-nontech mailing list just in case
this is considered off-topic and the conversation can continue there.

Regards,

Jorge

Director of Web Development/Owner
2UP Media
c: 407.489.2677
info@xxxxxxxxxxxx
www.2upmedia.com

LinkedIn
PHP Zend Certified Engineer

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