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Showing posts from October, 2025

40 Hours a Year: A Strategic Benchmark for Mainframe Workforce Readiness and Futureproofing

  Darren Surch, CEO Mainframe platforms sit at the core of the world’s financial, government, healthcare, and retail infrastructure. They’re stable by design. But the ecosystem around them evolves constantly: new security threats, modernization toolchains, DevOps practices for z/OS, hybrid cloud integration patterns, and waves of retirements that shift institutional knowledge. In that environment, a simple, measurable target of 40 hours of professional development per person per year becomes more than a number. It’s a strategic benchmark that helps leaders operationalize workforce readiness, de-risk transformation, and future-proof critical operations. Setting a Learning Baseline IBM offers perhaps the best-known proof point. Its THINK40 program sets a clear expectation that  every  employee completes a minimum of 40 hours of training and professional development annually. IBM’s learning and development program success has led to an increase in retention and engagement. T...