[dragonwriter]

> Anyone can learn COBOL the language, but it seems like the real issue with hiring COBOL devs is that you need to have experience working with mainframe technologies that are basically impossible to get any experience with outside of already having a job doing it.

Most (IME, and I suspect generally) of the places hiring COBOL devs already have COBOL devs (and probably non-developer mainframe ops folks) doing those other tasks already, and if someone is both a half-competent programmer and knows COBOL-the-language, having them pick up the other stuff through OJT is probably tolerable.