Scott Ford writes:
>A lot of 'younger' guys and gals don't want to learn z/OS or
>any of it's components.

A lot do. [And, it should be noted, the mountain has moved. If you're a
J2EE programmer, for example, learning WebSphere Application Server for
z/OS is literally zero effort.(*)]

Those that don't will have lower odds of finding and keeping employment --
and maintaining desired salaries -- ceteris paribus, if the expert
forecasters are correct. Overall IT employment in the U.S. has fallen quite
a bit since its dot-com peak already.?

Also if the experts are correct, one would think there should be an
increase in ab initio and cross training needs. Programs like the Academic
Initiative and "Master the Mainframe" contest are manifestations of the
former, but I wonder if the latter category has been fully mined yet. Maybe
there should be more training that takes someone with skill set "X" and
cross-trains them to acquire additional skills "Y." Some companies do this
internally already.

(*) Although some developers do experience the cultural shock of being
expected to produce *quality*, not just quantity. Mainframes measure things
and tell you exactly where you got it wrong. Some developers get offended
by that. :-)

- - - - -
Timothy Sipples
IBM Consulting Enterprise Software Architect
Based in Tokyo, Serving IBM Japan / Asia-Pacific
E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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