How To Become A Mainframe Programmer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a mainframe programmer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted experts

Craig Tidwell Ph.D.,

Christian Hansen Ph.D.

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a mainframe programmer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $41.84 an hour? That's $87,036 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -7% and produce -17,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a mainframe programmer?

Craig Tidwell Ph.D.

Professor/Program Manager, Seminole State College of Florida

Students who are graduating with a degree in computer and information systems should focus on being lifelong learners. The most challenging, and sometimes frustrating, aspect of a career in information technology is that it is always changing. Employers are also looking for employees that can work well with others, especially in teams. Having a good understanding of the development and design process, and project management (DevOps) is a plus. Currently, there is a high demand for graduates with cloud and information security knowledge and skills.

ScoreMainframe ProgrammerUS Average

Salary

6.8

Avg. Salary $87,036

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.1

Growth rate -7%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.18%

Asian 23.20%

Black or African American 4.51%

Hispanic or Latino 7.96%

Unknown 4.55%

White 59.60%

Gender

female 24.63%

male 75.37%

Age - 48

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 48

Stress level

5.1

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.3

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.7

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a mainframe programmer

Explore mainframe programmer education requirements

Most common mainframe programmer degrees

Bachelor's

66.7 %

Master's

14.5 %

Associate

12.0 %

Start to develop specific mainframe programmer skills

Skills	Percentages
JCL	10.98%
DB2	10.77%
MQ	8.24%
CICS	7.29%
SQL	6.78%

Complete relevant mainframe programmer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New mainframe programmers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a mainframe programmer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real mainframe programmer resumes.

Research mainframe programmer duties and responsibilities

Train the local programming staff in JCL and in revise COBOL coding to take advantage of the expanded mainframe processing capacity.
Code SQL statements to generate reports and check the optimization of SQL queries using SPUFI.
Create new programs using COBOL CICS VSAM to generate the adjudication process of claims whenever the user approves the policy.
Access creation in RACF and ACF2 systems and train the team.

Get mainframe programmer experience

Generally, it takes 6-8 years to become a mainframe programmer. The most common roles before becoming a mainframe programmer include programmer analyst, mainframe developer team lead and senior programmer analyst.

Prepare your mainframe programmer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your mainframe programmer resume.

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