Introduction to The Mainframe Book Club

Welcome to the Mainframe Book Club – Building the Future of Mainframe Skills The mainframe industry is facing one of its biggest challenges in decades estimated by Forbes magazine to be a $3 trillion dollar crisis with a growing skills shortage, ageing workforce, hybrid working, outsourcing, and fewer opportunities for informal mentoring, how do we help the next generation build successful careers on IBM Z? This is why I created the Mainframe Book Club, my inspiration behind it, and how it is evolving to help both experienced professionals and those who are completely new to the platform. I wanted to recreate something many of us have lost, the opportunity to learn from experienced colleagues through everyday conversations. Instead of learning only from formal training, the series explores the career journeys of professionals across the mainframe ecosystem, who share the books, websites, courses, soft skills and experiences that helped them succeed. In this video you'll discover: 📌 Why the mainframe skills challenge has become more significant in recent years. 📌 How COVID, remote working, hybrid teams and outsourcing have changed the way we develop talent. 📌 Why informal mentoring has become harder—and why that matters. 📌 How the Mainframe Book Club helps people explore different career paths across the mainframe industry. 📌 New initiatives to support those who are New to Z and looking to begin a career on IBM Z. 📌 Plans for role-specific interviews and shorter technical discussions focused on individual job functions. 📌 Why future episodes will also explore topics such as AI, project failures, cyber security, effective learning, wellbeing and avoiding burnout. This channel is about far more than technology. It's about building a stronger, more connected mainframe community where knowledge is shared openly and people are encouraged to grow throughout their careers. If you're a student, graduate, developer, system programmer, security professional, architect, or an experienced mainframer looking to explore a new role, I hope you'll find something here that helps you on your journey. ✅ Find the right Books, Websites and Resources to help you ✅ Recommendations from industry experts on the Mainframe sharing their advice ❎ Finding it difficult to find resources? ❎ Curious to know more about a certain Mainframe role? ❎ Are you working remotely and finding it difficult to find information and resources? Before launching The Mainframe Book Club underwent peer review from leading Mainframers; we asked and you told us that finding resources was difficult, information was scattered and you wanted help. ✅ Join us to find out about Events, Webinars, Ted Talks, YouTube, Mentoring and more ✅ We have compiled all of the Books, websites, resources in fact everything is available at:- WarGames1983.com If you enjoy this content, please Like & Subscribe, and join the conversation in the comments. Together, we can help develop the next generation of mainframe professionals. #topics #mainframes #ibm #ibmz IBM Z | z/OS | Mainframe Careers | Mainframe Skills | New to Z | COBOL | JCL | CICS | Db2 | System Programming | Mainframe Modernisation | Cyber Security | AI | Career Development | Mentoring | Enterprise IT | Professional Development #mainframe #ibm #zos #cobol #cics #db2 #cybersecurity #enterpriseit #careerdevelopment #learning #ibmchampion #storytelling I actually think this is one of the most important videos on your channel because it explains *why* the Mainframe Book Club exists. It isn't just a series of interviews—it has a clear mission to help address the skills gap by recreating the mentoring and knowledge-sharing that many mainframers benefited from earlier in their careers. That mission comes through strongly in the transcript and is worth emphasising in the description.