Editing COBOL (section)

=== Modernization efforts ===
In 2006 and 2012, ''[[Computerworld]]'' surveys (of 352 readers) found that over 60% of organizations used COBOL (more than [[C++]] and [[Visual Basic .NET]]) and that for half of those, COBOL was used for the majority of their internal software.<ref name="Computerworld Not Dead Yet">{{cite journal |title=Cobol: Not Dead Yet |url=https://www.computerworld.com/article/1709161/cobol-not-dead-yet.html |access-date=10 December 2024 |journal=Computerworld |date=4 October 2006 |last=Mitchell |first=Robert L.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9225099/Cobol_brain_drain_Survey_results |access-date=27 April 2014 |title=Cobol brain drain: Survey results |journal=Computerworld |date=14 March 2012 |author=<!-- N/A --> |archive-date=27 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140427203258/http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9225099/Cobol_brain_drain_Survey_results |url-status=dead }}</ref> 36% of managers said they planned to migrate from COBOL, and 25% said that they would do so if not for the expense of rewriting [[legacy code]]. Alternatively, some businesses have migrated their COBOL programs from mainframes to cheaper, faster hardware.<ref name="Computerworld Not Dead Yet" />

By 2019, the number of COBOL programmers was shrinking fast due to retirements, leading to an impending skills gap in business and government organizations which still use mainframe systems for high-volume transaction processing. Efforts to rewrite COBOL systems in newer languages have proven expensive and problematic, as has the outsourcing of code maintenance, thus proposals to train more people in COBOL are advocated.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://ibmsystemsmag.com/IBM-Z/10/2019/closing-cobol-programming-skills-gap |title=Closing the COBOL Programming Skills Gap |last1=Teplitzky |first1=Phil |access-date=11 June 2020 |magazine=IBM Systems Magazine, IBM Z |date=25 October 2019 |archive-date=13 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200413033628/https://ibmsystemsmag.com/IBM-Z/10/2019/closing-cobol-programming-skills-gap |url-status=dead}}</ref> 

Several banks have undertaken multi-year COBOL modernization efforts, sometimes resulting in widespread service disruptions that result in fines.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Megaw |first=Nicholas |date=2018-04-25 |title=TSB's 'flawless' IT migration turns into chaos for its customers |url=https://www.ft.com/content/cf410e20-48a7-11e8-8ee8-cae73aab7ccb |access-date=2025-04-19 |work=Financial Times}}</ref> 

During the [[COVID-19 pandemic]] and the ensuing surge of unemployment, several US states reported a shortage of skilled COBOL programmers to support the legacy systems used for unemployment benefit management. Many of these systems had been in the process of conversion to more modern programming languages prior to the pandemic, but the process was put on hold.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/08/business/coronavirus-cobol-programmers-new-jersey-trnd/index.html |title=Wanted urgently: People who know a half century-old computer language so states can process unemployment claims |first=Alicia |last=Lee |date=8 April 2020 |access-date=8 April 2020 |work=[[CNN]]}}</ref> Similarly, the US [[Internal Revenue Service]] rushed to patch its COBOL-based [[Individual Master File]] in order to disburse the tens of millions of payments mandated by the [[Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Long |first1=Heather |last2=Stein |first2=Jeff |last3=Rein |first3=Lisa |last4=Romm |first4=Tony |title=Stimulus checks and other coronavirus relief hindered by dated technology and rocky government rollout |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=17 April 2020 |access-date=19 April 2020 |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/04/17/stimulus-unemployment-checks-delays-government-delays/}}</ref>