There are advantages and disadvantages to mainframe specialization. Because it's a stable thing for big companies, there is actually more job security than in other areas of IT. Big companies need to keep these systems running, somehow; they are more open to training people from the outside, and they are willing to pay for expertise. There is an evolutionary balance.
You also say that you would like the field you select to be growing. Selecting a growing field can be more risky, too. Things that are already widely adopted are probably proven to work really well, and therefore they are there to stay for a while.
As for the older people in the industry, I have always enjoyed it. Compared to young people, older people are generally more calm and less needy to prove themselves than young people. They actually understand (and demand from the company) the work-life balance better. And they have more interesting stories to tell. The truth is lot of smart people worked on the mainframe in the past, and often the most successful stayed in the business.
The fear that innovation gets ignored - well, that is partly unfounded. It's true that mainframe is supposed to be super stable platform (it's a philosophical difference), so you only change things in production when needed. But in tooling, you can innovate a lot.
I work for one of the mainframe companies mentioned in the article, but I am not American. In our office, there is plenty of young people and some of them do really good innovation, like for example writing some Python or JS tools. Usually, the older people are impressed by that, as long as it brings some practical value.
You also say that you would like the field you select to be growing. Selecting a growing field can be more risky, too. Things that are already widely adopted are probably proven to work really well, and therefore they are there to stay for a while.
As for the older people in the industry, I have always enjoyed it. Compared to young people, older people are generally more calm and less needy to prove themselves than young people. They actually understand (and demand from the company) the work-life balance better. And they have more interesting stories to tell. The truth is lot of smart people worked on the mainframe in the past, and often the most successful stayed in the business.
The fear that innovation gets ignored - well, that is partly unfounded. It's true that mainframe is supposed to be super stable platform (it's a philosophical difference), so you only change things in production when needed. But in tooling, you can innovate a lot.
I work for one of the mainframe companies mentioned in the article, but I am not American. In our office, there is plenty of young people and some of them do really good innovation, like for example writing some Python or JS tools. Usually, the older people are impressed by that, as long as it brings some practical value.