The COBOL Cowboys: The story of a modern western in the banking world

If you've never heard of COBOL, it's because you're under 40 or you've forgotten. However, COBOL was everywhere.

Exceptional longevity

This computer language invented in 1959 by Grace Hopper - an American computer scientist, who served in the Navy during the Second World War, in short, not the standard granny cake - was originally intended to support the administration while facilitating interoperability. Developing a language independent of manufacturers in a format similar to what we would call the Open today was revolutionary.

Unsurprisingly, language has taken over the business world. In 1997, 80% of companies used COBOL software. Except that in 2000 and its famous bug, the age of technology began to show, beginning to decline. Or rather its very slow agony, because even today, 42% of businesses in the banking/insurance world still use legacy systems based on COBOL!

A problematic transition

Problem: how to transition from this technology (known for its syntactic difficulty) to other more modern ones even though there are no longer any professionals active on the subject? Indeed, starting in the 2010s, the entire Boomer generation retired, and with them COBOL skills, this language ignored by schools and active young people because it was considered to have no future.

This absence of a succession plan is not uncorrelated with the larger subject of Strategic Workforce Planning (or GPEC). The demography of populations with this competence was perfectly modelled and anticipated, unfortunately leaving a large number of businesses in need today. And for good reason: on Linkedin, there are only 10,000 Banking/Insurance professionals with this skill left.

Grandpas to the rescue

So, are we running straight into the wall, are banking systems going to collapse, and is it time to run with our arms in the air in a panic?

Not so fast. The alert has already been raised, and more and more smart young developers are setting up as freelancers to support the migration of programs, often to Java. It's not sexy, but it pays well (up to 50% more on a platform like Malt).

Second, the shortage of talent in COBOL is only felt among the working population. If we extend the search to retirees, the “supply” is much more important. It was by observing this that Bill and Eileen Hinshaw created the COBOL Cowboys (yes, they are Texans...), which allow other retirees like them to make ends meet by maintaining code for businesses.

Even if it is quite obvious that COBOL is not a technology of the future, it is ultimately outsourcing that will serve as a lifeline for our banks and insurers. It is still necessary to know in what proportion to fill the skills gap, and over what period of time. And that can be planned...