No American company will pay more than $50/hour to anyone who is not American (or British). Even if the professional has decades of experience in z/OS and HLASM.
Just today, I was offered $45/hour for an HLASM programmer position. That's only because I live in Brazil. On Thu, Feb 5, 2026 at 6:28 PM Steve Beaver < [email protected]> wrote: > I have started telling recruiters that my inflation adjusted rate is > $120/Hr because i refuse to make less than I did in 1990 > > > Sent from my iPhone > > No one said I could type with one thumb > > > On Feb 5, 2026, at 13:10, Steve Beaver <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > I saw that one too. TLMS I didn’t think was still in use > > > > > > Sent from my iPhone > > > > No one said I could type with one thumb > > > >> On Feb 5, 2026, at 13:09, Steve Beaver <[email protected]> wrote: > >> > >> > >> When Indian recruiters call now I start by saying unless you are > offering $120/Hr W2 then you do not need to be talking to me and you need > to tell your managers that you are getting push back on the low rates. If > we ALL push back all at the same time recruiters and companies will get the > point > >> > >> Sent from my iPhone > >> > >> No one said I could type with one thumb > >> > >>>> On Feb 5, 2026, at 12:33, Pommier, Rex < > [email protected]> wrote: > >>> > >>> Another issue related to this is the fact that some (many/most??) US > firms won't hire independent contractors. They require a contractor be > hired through an agency. Lets see, less money for the worker, more money > coming out of the company's coffers. Lose, lose proposition. > >>> > >>> -----Original Message----- > >>> From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List <[email protected]> On > Behalf Of Mike Beer > >>> Sent: Thursday, February 5, 2026 12:08 PM > >>> To: [email protected] > >>> Subject: [EXTERNAL] mainframe skills - was cross posted > >>> > >>> This problem is not restricted to US projects. > >>> > >>> I recently was contacted for an Austrian banking project with specific > mainframe skills plus agile experience (SCRUM master) plus JAVA development. > >>> This skill set is rare - the recruiting firm offered EUR 60/hour. > >>> This is ridiculous - on the other hand this bank's software keeps > crashing very often. So they will have cheap people, but not the necessary > skills. > >>> > >>> And I agree, most - but not all - recruiters have no clue what they > are talking about. > >>> > >>> IBM does not really help to keep the mainframe business - instead of > promoting the stability of mission critical infrastructure, everything is > AI. > >>> It is good to have at least some people who know what they are doing, > instead of having to ask ChatGPT for every task. > >>> > >>> Regards > >>> Mike > >>> > >>> -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----- > >>> Von: IBM Mainframe Discussion List <[email protected]> Im > Auftrag von Steve Thompson > >>> Gesendet: Donnerstag, 5. Februar 2026 17:55 > >>> An: [email protected] > >>> Betreff: Re: Cross Posted > >>> > >>> Before anyone starts arguments on supply and demand and capitalism, > free market and the like, (again) understand this: > >>> > >>> What Steve and I and others like us are running into is a large number > of recruiter/ing firms who are all trying to get the same contracts. So to > get the account, they quote low. > >>> > >>> Then on DICE, INDEED, Monster and the others (some of these are being > bought and merged), but the end effect is offering rates that are below > what we were making about 1990 and that is NOT adjusted for inflation. > >>> > >>> Add to this that the majority of the people contacting me do not know > how JES2 or JES3 is pronounced. They don't know most of the acronyms we use > in the industry. They can't read a tech based resume to understand that one > is not a sysprog, but is a software developer. > >>> > >>> Just wanted to get us on a level playing field before the noise starts. > >>> > >>> -- > >>> Regards, > >>> Steve Thompson > >>> > >>> > >>>>> On 2/5/2026 10:43 AM, Steve Beaver wrote: > >>>> For the US people, I have been beat to death looking for zOS DB2 > >>>> Systems DBA’s and people that know ACF2, RACF, and TSS > >>>> > >>>> These skills are RARE. Doing my research Recruiters at offering $60 > >>>> per hour where the honest labor rate should be $150 per hour or higher > >>>> > >>>> My suggestion is that if you have any of these skills. Tell the > >>>> Recruiter $150/Hr or go away > >>>> > >>>> As a data point. They pay you $60 per hour and they charge the > >>>> customer $150 per hour > >>>> > >>>> > >>>> > >>>> Sent from my iPhone > >>>> > >>>> No one said I could type with one thumb > >>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > >>>> For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send > >>>> email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN > >>> > >>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > >>> For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send > email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN > >>> > >>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > >>> For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send > email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN > >>> > >>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > >>> For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, > >>> send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, > send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
