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 Delays in unemployment claims being fulfilled are in part due to the lack of programmers who can code in this outdated programming language.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. COBOL programmers are somewhat scarce."

The lack of COBOL programmers is partly because it was one of the first computer programmer languages to be created in the United States. COBOL was innovative at the time, in 1959, because it could run its program on multiple manufacturer's computers. According to the National Museum of American history's website:

Written initially for the short range, COBOL proved so useful that it dominated much of government and business data processing for decades. Millions of banking transactions are still processed daily with COBOL programs. As the use of common programming languages became standard, a flourishing independent computer software industry emerged.

According to a survey conducted by The Verge, at least 12 states use COBOL in their unemployment systems including New Jersey, Alaska, Connecticut, California, Iowa, Kansas, Rhode Island, and Colorado. According to Reuters, COBOL programmers are most likely to be between 45 to 55 years old on average. Interestingly, an estimated 43 percent of banks are built on COBOL.

Consequently, there is now a scramble for various government agencies to hire COBOL programmers. For example, Governor Phil Murphy (D-N.J.) put out a call for volunteers who know the ancient programming language, something government officials have admitted that they aren't necessarily proud of doing.

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