jaydeepdahiwal

Sometimes, technology is a reasonable excuse for a holdup. But in the case of the unemployment benefits that are part of the $2.2 trillion CARES Act, processing delays are not due to a glitch, but the inadequacy of ancient computer systems. Specifically, a half-century old programming language, COBOL (which stands for Common Business-Oriented Language), can't handle the demand. Between March 15 and April, the federal labor department reported 16.8 million unemployment claims were filed — an estimated 13 percent of the U.S. Workforce. Delays in unemployment claims being fulfilled are in part due to the lack of programmers who can code in this outdated programming language.  "It is the largest issue with regards to implementation in the CARES program," Robin Roberson, executive director of the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission, told Bloomberg News. "Our mainframe is literally over 30 years old. It's very difficult to program, it doesn't do much. COB...