Is Cobol cool again?

Cobol staff enjoyed a 25 per cent hike in salaries last month, beaten only by those with Unix skills, at 34 per cent. Visual Basic and Windows NT staff salaries declined by 17 per cent and 4 per cent respectively in the same period.

According to Acucorp, there is something of a 'quiet revolution' surrounding Cobol at the moment, and 'mainframe mania' is hitting the UK in a big way, as companies reject their multiple-server strategies and 'put control of data back to those with the expertise to handle those (high volume, multiple user) problems'.

Acucorp director, Joe Siley, said: "In the past, Cobol suffered from a 'war horse' image, but we're seeing a shift in attitude. Legacy extension is big news now."