
Backbone Partners with Zcrafter
Zcrafter is a tool brining AI to your Mainframe workflow
Explore open positions for Mainframe developers, administrators, analysts, operators, and more.
Employers hiring for people with expertise in Mainframe also frequently require knowledge of JCL, DB2, COBOL, and z/OS. This is based on data from over 541 Mainframe listings.
Based on 162 job openings, the average salary for Mainframe professionals is $122,098. Specific salaries vary depending on experience and role.
Mainframe expertise is in demand globally. These are the 5 countries with the most Mainframe job listings.
Mainframe technology originated in the 1950s as a solution for large organizations that needed to process massive volumes of data with absolute reliability. Early systems, most notably from IBM, became the backbone of enterprise computing by centralizing critical workloads such as payroll, accounting, and transaction processing. Over decades, mainframes earned a reputation for unmatched stability, security, and performance, powering mission-critical systems long before cloud or distributed architectures existed.
Today, mainframes remain essential infrastructure in industries where downtime, data loss, or security breaches are simply not an option. Banking, financial services, and insurance are the largest users, relying on mainframes to process billions of transactions daily. Government agencies, healthcare systems, airlines, retail, and telecommunications companies also depend heavily on mainframe platforms to manage sensitive data, high-volume workloads, and real-time operations at scale.
Modern mainframes are no longer isolated legacy systems. They support Linux, APIs, DevOps workflows, and hybrid cloud integration, allowing organizations to modernize applications while retaining proven core systems. As companies balance digital transformation with operational stability, mainframes continue to evolve rather than disappear.
According to Backbone Jobs data the mainframe job market remains niche but resilient. Demand is driven by ongoing modernization initiatives and a wave of retirements among experienced mainframe professionals. Employers increasingly seek engineers who combine traditional mainframe skills such as COBOL, CICS, and DB2 with modern technologies like Java, APIs, and cloud integration. For professionals, this creates a stable, well-compensated job market with long-term relevance in enterprise IT.
The demand for Mainframe professionals remains steady. Companies like Kyndryl, Rocket Software, IBM, and Jobs via Dice together with 237 more are actively hiring in the space.
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Zcrafter is a tool brining AI to your Mainframe workflow

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