Why do you think most of MVS is written in PLX instead of assembler so
IBM can hire college kids for nothing to program the OS
On the outside world you would need to code Assembler macros for
authorized services
Sent from my iPhone
On Feb 20, 2010, at 5:49 PM, Pinnacle <pinnc...@rochester.rr.com> wrote:
----- Original Message ----- From: "Gabriel Tully" <gjtu...@gmail.com>
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.ibm-main
Sent: Saturday, February 20, 2010 12:06 PM
Subject: Re: Senior Java Developer vs. MVS Systems Programmer
On 2/20/2010 11:41 AM, J R wrote:
They wore lab coats?
They were called MVS administrators?
I was being facetious, but I get it - allow me to back-peddle.
Sorry, I didn't mean to condescend. I'm just tired of reading
about the consipriacy to lower the standard of living of systems
programmers and the attitude of entitlement. There are a lot of
smart MVSers who wish they could get a job for $65 an hour.
<rant>
Dude,
Save your ad hominem attacks. I am nothing if not adaptable, and as
far as an attitude of entitlement, I'll give you the benefit of the
doubt and assume that you're unfamiliar with what's going on. Bring
some facts if you have any and let's have a discussion. Or if
you're tired of reading, then stop reading. Obviously you disagree
with my premise, but calling me inadaptable and accusing me of an
attitude of entitlement doesn't advance the discussion and is
incorrect to boot. This is a serious issue affecting the lives and
livelihoods of nearly everyone on this list. Discussing the nature
of the employment market in z/OS and the future of that market is
extremely important, and I will continue to post relevant
information on that topic. Feel free to lay out your arguments, if
you have any, but stuff your personal attacks.
What I'm talking about is an ARTIFICIAL lowering of bill rates and
salaries that has NOTHING to do with market forces. I'm all about
capitalism and supply and demand, but that's not what's going on
here. On one hand, IBM laments the lack of z/OS talent and worries
that the lack of talent will mean the death of z/OS in the not-too-
distant future (say 10-15 years). So they restart the academic
initiative in order to train more z/OS talent. On the other hand,
another arm of IBM has created its own Tower of Babel in Dubuque,
IA, and declared by fiat that they'll only pay $40/hr for 20 years
of MVS experience, less than 50% of the going rate just two years
before. The back story on the Dubuque, IA deal is that IBM got
millions of dollars of tax breaks in exchange for the promise of
bringing thousands of jobs to Dubuque (see the posting a few weeks
ago that referenced articles on that subject). Not bad, promising
jobs at below-market wages in exchange for tax breaks, but IBM has
not yet provided any employment numbers to the good folks of Dubuque
or the state of Iowa. I suspect as do others that IBM has finally
encountered resistance to the $40/hr price point. I am mail-bombed
with 4-10 Emails a week for these positions, and it's clear from
DICE and other jobs boards that IBM is blanketing the country
looking for people to fill these positions.
This is all actually happening, I'm not making anything up. I
posted the Java developer position here because I have maintained
that IBM's Academic Initiative is doomed to failure. Why would any
college student go into z/OS when they can make much more doing Java
or Web development? Others have scoffed at that idea, but I've been
looking for a long-term z/OS contract since 5/2009, and they're
significantly lower than the $700-$900/day offered in that Java
developer posting. BTW, if that's what they're offering, you could
probably negotiate even more. So I ask again, why would a college
student choose z/OS as a career when more money can be made elsewhere?
Let's deal with your other point that z/OS systems programming is
becoming easier. Really? Unless you have lots of money to spend on
OEM software, it's just as hard as it always was. CA's MSM? Only
does the SMP/E, deployment and configuration yet to come. z/OSMF?
It simplifies dump submission to IBM, if your mainframe is on the
Internet, other functionality is a ways away. WLM is just as hard
as IPS/ICS ever was, it just changed the knobs. JES2, VTAM, TCP/IP,
OSA's, HMC, CICS, DB2, WAS, USS, performance and cap planning,
storage management, Parallel Sysplex, Disaster Recovery, hardware
planning and installation, etc. Which of these areas have gotten
easier? I submit that z/OS systems programming isn't getting
easier. Instead, it's more demanding than ever. For every ounce of
labor savings in less experienced sysprogs, you need a pound of more
experienced sysprogs to ensure that you realize even bigger
savings. I've seen firsthand how low-cost z/OS labor ends up
costing much more in missed deadlines and incorrect configurations.
If you have evidence that z/OS systems programming is getting
easier, please post.
</rant>
Regards,
Tom Conley
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