Believe me, there's the same problem over in the UK..... I've been a sysprog for the last 16years, the last 11 as a contractor and now at 37 there doesn't seem to be any work any more...
What work there is, is chased after by the same people. Rates are holding up, but that's about it. You try to apply for Storage Admin work, or Ops Analyst work or similar, but there's always just as many real guys going for the job as well which means it's a dead end. Also considering the complexity of Storage Admin these days. You can literally count on one hand the number of Full time jobs as a sysprog in the UK and Europe, since the beginning of the year let alone contracts..... And apparently there's supposed to be a skills shortage. I don't think so! Retraining is a very hard thing to do, due to the inherent pay cut due to the lack of experience. Personally I think the best option is to get PRINCE 2 or ITIL and go into problem management. This could end up being a possible niche market. Otherwise it's all about waiting 10 years until everyone starts retiring... Anyone for early retirement???? Please!!!!!!! Phil. -----Original Message----- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Kelman, Tom Sent: 03 July 2007 20:14 To: IBM-MAIN@BAMA.UA.EDU Subject: Re: Career Advice Sought Don't forget about related areas. With a Mainframe background, storage management would easily fit, maybe security (we do do it best after all), and DR (for a reasonable shop size it's easily an FTE (or 2 or 3)), maybe even change management. Then you can tell the squatty box gang "The Mainframe can do it, why can't you?" <grin> Ken No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database: 269.9.14/884 - Release Date: 02/07/2007 15:35 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
