Listed here are some key issues –
1. Tutorial Partnerships
Whereas only some of the world’s 25,000 universities educate mainframe or COBOL, notable exceptions embody Northern Illinois College (NIU), Marist, East Carolina College, and the College of Nebraska Omaha – all of that are working with employers to provide expert graduates.
Elsewhere, the EMMA digital apprenticeship program, which solely began in 2024, has a whole bunch of apprentices on its books, its first graduates already positioned, and has a big mainframe vendor and plenty of different organizations trying to enroll as companions. It’s proof that when visibility exists, demand emerges.
2. Third-Get together Coaching
Outdoors the schooling system, third occasion organizations supply a broad, supplementary, industry-ready syllabus. For instance, Interskill Studying delivered over 1 million hours of IBM mainframe coaching in 2023. Platforms like Udemy and Coursera supply accessible studying, whereas specialised suppliers ship focused experience.
Actually, in response to CobolCloud/Interskill Studying, 81% of organizations now leverage third-party studying platforms as a part of their abilities improvement efforts.
3. Consulting and Contractors
Typically, the need for expertise is just too urgent for a prolonged coaching program. Boutique consultancies providing particular area of interest abilities and expertise is usually a versatile means to accumulate high-skill options extra instantaneously. Bigger system integrators additionally present extra mainstream expertise providers, serving to bridge the abilities hole at scale.
4. In-Home Coaching
Typically abilities wants are so distinctive that outdoors assist can’t be the complete reply. Organizations throughout the globe, together with TD Financial institution, SEB, and Syspro Central have invested in their very own in-house technical abilities bootcamps and onboarding applications.
These efforts embody recruitment, coaching, position placement, and cultural integration—strategic investments that, for these organizations, repay.
5. Expertise Assist
Onboarding new abilities can typically be hampered by the supply of the environments through which to study. Virtualized z/OS environments, similar to these supplied by PopUp Mainframe, supply “always-on” entry for coaching, addressing the problem of restricted mainframe availability.
Extra broadly, trendy mainframe tooling—software evaluation, debugging, DevOps integration, plus a plethora of AI improvements—can cut back reliance on scarce abilities and enhance productiveness.
