By Marek Walczak, i-Rays
The IBM i platform has been a cornerstone of enterprise IT for decades. Its reliability and versatility have made it indispensable for mission-critical operations across industries. Yet, as the workforce ages and seasoned IBM i professionals approach retirement, organizations face a daunting challenge: how to maintain and modernize these legacy systems when there’s a shrinking pool of younger talent ready to step in.
This isn’t exactly something that has just popped up on the radar. Companies have been talking about this for more than a decade, and even IBM has flagged it as a legitimate concern, but a recent survey from Fortra shows that it is now the top concern of IBM i users.
The skills gap is not just a theoretical risk: it’s an urgent reality. Surveys show that more than 60% of IBM i professionals are aged 50 and above, and many are planning to retire in the next few years. Younger IT professionals are gravitating toward cloud-native platforms and modern development frameworks, leaving IBM i expertise in short supply. As a result, organizations are struggling to fill open positions, and the cost of IBM i talent has risen sharply.
So what is the best way to fix the problem? In short, there isn’t a single answer, and there is no magic button to push to automatically create replacement talent. But the good news is that a combination of strategic approaches can help business leaders ride the wave And maintain the integrity of their IBM i Infrastructure without breaking the bank.
One of the most transformative strategies is modernization through cloud migration. By moving IBM i workloads to the cloud, organizations can leverage modern infrastructure, reduce reliance on legacy hardware, and attract younger talent interested in cloud technologies. This approach also enables gradual refactoring of applications, making them more accessible to new developers and reducing the risk associated with losing veteran experts.
Mentorship is also a critical component of bridging the skills gap. Industry leaders emphasize the importance of veteran IBM i professionals working in teams with newer employees, transferring institutional knowledge and coding standards. Internships and structured onboarding programs allow recent graduates to learn company processes in a low-risk environment, ensuring that essential skills are passed down before retirees exit the workforce.
Organizations are rethinking their hiring practices. Instead of searching for candidates with decades of RPG experience, they’re looking for curious, adaptable programmers who can learn IBM i skills on the job. This flexibility opens the door to a broader pool of talent and revitalizes teams with fresh perspectives. IBM’s “Fresh Faces” campaign, launched to highlight younger engineers, is one example of efforts to encourage early-career IT professionals to specialize in IBM i.
When internal expertise is insufficient, outsourcing to managed service providers (MSPs) is a viable solution. MSPs offer focused expertise, lower costs, and continuity of operations, allowing organizations to maintain their IBM i environments without the need for full-time, in-house specialists. This approach is especially valuable for smaller companies or those facing sudden retirements.
Automation of diagnostics and system configuration intelligence is increasingly used to reduce the need for manual intervention in IBM i operations. By implementing modern, graphical interfaces and automating routine tasks, organizations can train existing staff more easily and ensure business continuity. Comprehensive documentation of custom code, operational shortcuts, and disaster recovery procedures is essential to prevent loss of institutional knowledge when experts retire.
IBM itself is tripling its entry-level hiring, rewriting job descriptions to focus on customer engagement, AI oversight, and problem-solving rather than routine tasks. This strategy ensures a pipeline of talent for future leadership roles and aligns with the evolving nature of work in the AI era.
The IBM i skills gap is a multifaceted challenge, but organizations are responding with a blend of modernization, mentorship, flexible hiring, outsourcing, automation, and strategic investment in young talent. By proactively addressing these issues, enterprises can ensure the longevity and vitality of their IBM i environments, even as veteran experts retire and the next generation steps up to take their place to keep the IBM i running and thriving for decades to come.