"Why? Because coding a percentage in COBOL would take an estimated five months."
Five months to code a percentage, or five months to add the calculation, integrate that data point with other systems (does this need to be shown as its own field on any unemployment forms or reports? etc.), test it to the point where it has been demonstrated stable enough to be included in a critical system, and then deliver this change?
I don't know the first thing about COBOL but the fact that government is (for good reasons) slow to move, the stability needed in critical things like unemployment processing, and all the other things that go into "coding a percentage", explain that timeline a hell of a lot more than what language was used.
Five months to code a percentage, or five months to add the calculation, integrate that data point with other systems (does this need to be shown as its own field on any unemployment forms or reports? etc.), test it to the point where it has been demonstrated stable enough to be included in a critical system, and then deliver this change?
I don't know the first thing about COBOL but the fact that government is (for good reasons) slow to move, the stability needed in critical things like unemployment processing, and all the other things that go into "coding a percentage", explain that timeline a hell of a lot more than what language was used.