The majority of chief information officers (CIOs) are concerned about a lack of suitable candidates for IT jobs who have sufficient skills to work on mainframes.

A study by Vanson Bourne, commissioned by Compuware, found that 71 per cent of CIOs are worried that a dearth of suitably-trained applicants will have a detrimental impact on their business.

More than half (58 per cent) of the officers questioned in the survey cited increased application risk as a big concern, with the same percentage highlighting reduced productivity and 53 per cent worried about project overruns.

Kris Manery, senior vice-president and general manager of Compuware's Mainframe Solutions Business Unit, said that experienced developers are crucial to the success of organisations and as significant numbers start to retire in the coming years, companies face several challenges.

"The loss of expertise as they retire will lead to increased costs as inexperienced developers spend more time getting to grips with their mainframe applications," he added.

A recent survey from Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute showed that the US is facing a skills shortage in its manufacturing industry as well.

Posted by Fiona Summers