So my dad just lost his job.

[DGuller]

It also does this because it has to be ridiculously backwards-compatible.  Which is a greatly limiting factor for some of the fancier things you can do with computers.

[Grey Fox]

"Hey, everybody!  Be a self-employed entrepreneur!  It's the French-Canadian way!  Even the word is French!"

That said, I guess it's not the worst idea.

It's a 15min commintment for a seasoned programmer. You & me are fucked, yes.

[Zanza]

It also does this because it has to be ridiculously backwards-compatible.  Which is a greatly limiting factor for some of the fancier things you can do with computers.

Not necessarily. You can run very modern architectures on a mainframe.

[KRonn]

I started out working with and programming on IBM mainframe type computers. The company I'm with now transitioned to a network/server system and I went along with it. Big change but those of us who were into the mainframes just learned/trained and worked with the newer systems. The transition wasn't that difficult and in fact I like it better, mainly due to the fact that we aren't writing the code now, not like we used to. We use and maintain vendor software which I thought would cost jobs but the support of so many different medical systems, hardware and servers requires a lot of IT support. The change over was years ago and I'm so accustomed to how things are now that I'd probably have some difficulty going to a mainframe. Though I'm application support, not writing code, so I could do that kind of support for any system.

[OttoVonBismarck]

We bought a house on Smith Mountain Lake a couple years ago, and we have a neighbor there who lives on the lake full time and retired at 62. He got hired by whatever the local gas utility was/is in southern West Virginia as a guy who would read these paper gas charts that came in from the field and then plugged the numbers into a formula that you found in a manual (and varied based on I believe pressure/temperature) and then sent the results off to the billing department. He got the job at 18 right out of High School as it was basically a "can you read? can you do basic math?" sort of job. I think he said this was in the mid-late 60s. By the early 70s they basically said "hey, Jack has a good head for things, maybe he can work on this mainframe we just bought" and he was basically a computer programmer from that point forward. Eventually he actually was put in charge of writing from scratch the system that allowed for old school modem style connections between the central office and large industrial gas meters in the field for 5-6 States where the company operated. While he's said there are off the shelf solutions for this now, in his day he was basically doing everything from scratch, the only thing he didn't do himself was design the modem protocols which obviously already existed. I think he retired as a VP or something of the company, without having ever gone to college or received any formal IT training.

I can't really blame him, he had a decent paying job right out of High School and a very good paying job a few years later...I don't see how he could have justified taking four years out of his career to go to school. I'm not sure how wealthy he is, but I know based on property records he bought his house for $650k in 2008 so he had to have done fairly well for himself in his career pre-retirement.

It's hard to believe if he had lost his job in say, his 40s, with 20+ years of experience at that point he wouldn't have been able to find work just because he didn't have a degree.

[KRonn]

Raz, sorry to hear about your dad losing his job. I think it's toughest when it first happens as it's a bit of a shock. But he has skills that are in some demand. I went through similar a while ago with similar type mainframe skills though not with COBOL, another prog language. There were a lot of unemployed people at the time (early 90s) so I had competition but things worked out ok, just took time. Best of luck to your dad and family in getting through this.

[CountDeMoney]

It's hard to believe if he had lost his job in say, his 40s, with 20+ years of experience at that point he wouldn't have been able to find work just because he didn't have a degree.

No, it's not.  Dozens like him at my previous power company have all been getting shitcanned the last 18 months.  One of the senior directors in compliance, a former navy man who'd been with the company since the late 70's is in for a real treat, considering he doesn't have a single college credit under his belt.

[Sheilbh]

Shitty news Raz

[Razgovory]

My dad does have a college degree, though not in anything relevant.  It's in... Psychology.   It's also a field he's totally clueless on.  These are courses he took in the 1970's.

[Sheilbh]

How old is he?

[Razgovory]

62.

[KRonn]

62.

I assume he's getting unemployment payments? I wonder if he has any ideas on retiring early at 62? Or if the family can survive on unemployment for a year or so he can retire at 63.

[Berkut]

Raz, if I were reading your posts, I would say your dad has a pretty decent chance of finding another job, and maybe at a better salary than he already had. He needs to get a resume together highlighting what he does and get it out on the major job sites.

There is plenty of demand out there for people who can work with mainframes.

[Razgovory]

He may just retire.  He's not sure yet.  He only lost his job on Monday.

[Legbiter]

Eh, if at all possible your dad should try to get another job Raz. But if he retires bring him to Languish, we need some fresh blood.