All this, Cobol programmers are in short supply and now let's train new ones, sounds like a sort of technical debt bailout. As some have noted management has f

All this, Cobol programmers are in short supply and now let's train new ones, sounds like a sort of technical debt bailout. As some have noted management has failed to look to the future and now their business has a major problem they are struggling to deal with. Same as we debate not bailing out, financially, companies that failed to plan for future disaster or catastrophies I would argue we don't bail out these companies that failed to maintain their own internal technical architectures by planning for upgrades and future maintenance. It's akin to the BS ISPs argue about not being able to afford to maintain it upkeep their infrastructure. It's largely BS. Put less in the upper managements pocket and more in the business and all of a sudden the business works and has resiliency against unexpected events. If you don't think these "vital" banks and hospitals can't afford it then you haven't been paying attention.