Published
August 07, 2025
Picture this: A candidate walks in with a certificate in data analytics. Sounds promising—but what does it mean? Can they clean messy datasets? Build predictive models? Or did they watch some videos and pass an open-book quiz?
This is exactly the kind of uncertainty employers face in today's talent market—one defined by rapid technological change, shifting demographics, and persistent labor shortages that have rendered traditional hiring tactics increasingly ineffective. In response, employers are adapting—embracing new ways to validate skills beyond degrees and investing in upskilling. But there's a catch: the credentialing marketplace is a black box.
According to Credential Engine, there are now 1.1 million credentials available—from OSHA certifications to cybersecurity boot camps—and the outcomes of these programs vary widely. Recent research by the Burning Glass Institute reveals a stark reality: only about 12% of credentials produce significant wage gains, meaning the majority may not be effective in skilling workers for new jobs or in helping them become more valuable to their employers.
Without credible alternatives, employers struggle to move beyond degrees. Simply put, they lack the tools to evaluate which credentials signal real value. This uncertainty creates inefficiencies at every stage of the talent lifecycle—from hiring to employee development.
The Burning Glass Institute's Credential Value Index (CVI) is a new tool to measure the real-world impact of credentials. By providing data-driven insights about credential outcomes, CVI empowers employers to understand which non-degreed programs qualify a candidate and which training options to invest in.
An Evidence-Based Marketplace for Skills
These types of evidence-backed signals of credential quality have real potential to accelerate ongoing initiatives, such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation's T3 Innovation Network, which aims to collect more data and build a frictionless job marketplace—one in which more workers can communicate their capabilities in ways that are meaningful to employers. Ultimately, this will ensure that workers not only have access to a "skill transcript" but also have the means of validating their mastery of the skills they have acquired. That's a significant step forward for both workers, who can now signal their capabilities to prospective employers, and for employers, who can hire with greater confidence and tap talent they might otherwise have missed.
This will accelerate the adoption of skills-based hiring. Employers need tools that can decode a candidate's real capabilities—and show how those align with job needs. Without transparency, hiring remains guesswork.
Automated hiring systems compound the problem. Without reliable data on credential quality and substance, these systems may screen out qualified candidates or overestimate the skills some credentials purport to represent.
CVI gives employers actionable intelligence. By analyzing real-world outcomes—such as wage growth, promotion rates, and success in reskilling—it helps employers gain clarity that enables smarter hiring decisions, both by people and by algorithms.
Building Talent Pipelines That Deliver
Employers are increasingly working with education providers to create access to high-demand roles, often in partnership with programs like the U.S. Chamber Foundation's Talent Pipeline Management® initiative.
Credential transparency is essential to these efforts, enabling companies to go beyond simply evaluating credentials at the point of hire and instead build true supply chains for talent. This shift requires close coordination across the ecosystem to ensure training programs are aligned with real workforce demands. We can now measure credential outcomes at the sector and provider levels, enabling firms to build stronger talent supply chains by working with partners who consistently deliver results, and enabling partners to align effectively with market signals.
The Path Forward
Employers know that, as workers gain skills and move up, they become more valuable. Companies are investing billions in employee education, but the effectiveness of those investments hinges on knowing which programs deliver results. New models, such as Skill Savings Accounts—employer-funded resources that allow workers to pursue training on demand – are gaining traction. Still, they need clear, trustworthy information about which credentials lead to meaningful outcomes.
With the rise of credentials and the growing power of big data, human resource management is at a generational turning point. For employers, credible credential data is no longer a wish-list item—it's a necessity. The CVI is at the vanguard of this transformation, providing the evidence base organizations need to hire more effectively, build more robust pipelines, and ensure strong return on upskilling and reskilling investments.
The employers who embrace credential transparency will build the most agile and competitive workforces. The rest will be left guessing—and losing talent to those who don't.
