Thread regarding Bank of New York Mellon Corp. layoffs

Layoff half of IT

I am an IT person who was let go 5 years ago after 32 years. Cutting IT staff in half? Who is going to support those old COBOL programs, many missing source, that support billions of dollars of business?

  • Deconstruct them into COBOL - I saw that done once and it was gibberish.
  • Rewrite from scratch. hah! Just try to get users to figure out what they should be doing.

BTW - Some of these old COBOL programs were updated for Y2K, with a "pivot" year to determine the century. When that year comes, guess what won't work any more?

by Anonymous
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Post ID: @OP+12m3XQ59
Comment! It's anonymous!

3 replies (most recent on top)

I assume that many major banks run old COBOL code (aka duct tape), not just BNYM. Lends a different nuance to the term "artificial intelligence." LOL

by Anonymous
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Post ID: @1xhe+12m3XQ59

Yeah, I was using a pivot year (50) in all my COBOL code back in the '90s. It was all new code, and Y2K wasn't even a thought in the tiny brains of those in charge. I figured if the year is less than 50, then it's the 2000s. If any of that code is still running in 2050, they deserve what they get.

There's even a company out there specializing in older COBOL programmers. I figure it'll give me something to do when I retire, if I need extra spending money - https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-banks-cobol/banks-scramble-to-fix-old-systems-as-it-cowboys-ride-into-sunset-idUSKBN17C0D8

by Anonymous
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Post ID: @1pwl+12m3XQ59

What I don't understand is how the FED is unaware that one of the largest clearing banks in the world has technology held together by duct tape.

by Anonymous
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Post ID: @1glg+12m3XQ59

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