Our study started with a simple question from our CEO in the middle of a leadership meeting.
NCCER’s Boyd Worsham paused in his discussion of apprenticeship standards and said something that caught the room off guard: "I wonder if the workforce still values credentials the way they used to."
His question reflects the shift taking place across the industrial workforce. There is generational turnover, new entry points into the trades and changing expectations about training, advancement and career growth. But where and how do credentials fit within these challenges?
The more our research team thought about it, the more the question began to matter. We all tend to believe that credentials help people get hired, upskill, stay safe and build long-term careers. But as the workforce evolves, as new generations enter the field and as pathways into construction become more diverse, it’s worth asking: Do credentials still mean something to the people doing the work?
We spent several months gathering data from across the industry. We surveyed more than 2,000 workers and conducted more than 30 one-on-one interviews with laborers, craft professionals, supervisors and industry leaders. What we found was both encouraging and unexpected. Credentials do still matter to the workforce, but not always for the reasons we think, and the way they’re seen is not specifically aligned with many organizational programs and systems.
Why this matters to the industry
Across the country, organizations within the industry are working to meet the growing demand for infrastructure, energy and industrial expansion. They’re doing this while continuing to navigate one of the most persistent challenges in the industry: finding and developing a skilled workforce. Making matters worse, a significant portion of the experienced workforce is nearing retirement, taking with them years of institutional knowledge, field expertise and practical judgment that cannot be easily replaced.
But this moment is different for another reason as well. Recent legislative efforts expanding Pell Grant eligibility to include short-term training programs at community colleges signal a nationwide shift toward supporting workforce-aligned education and credentialing pathways for craftworkers. For the first time in more than a generation, there is a real and growing national conversation challenging the long-standing "college-forall" mindset. Skilled trades are increasingly being recognized not as a fallback option, but as a first choice that offers less debt, stronger wages, greater stability and meaningful work. Careers in the skilled trades today offer more competitive wages, longer-term security and clearer advancement pathways than they have in decades.
Additionally, there is a new generation of workers stepping into the work world. Very little is known about how these systems are experienced by these workers or if there has been a change within the current workforce. For decades, credentials have served as a common language across the workforce to validate training, support safety, signal skills development and create structure in an industry that is constantly in flux.
Employers have relied on credentials to make hiring decisions, while workers have relied on them to demonstrate capability, gain access to job opportunities and move upward in their careers. But as the workforce evolves, especially if workers do not see credentials as meaningful, the entire model begins to weaken.
NCCER’s study examined whether the systems built around credentials and training truly align with the needs, motivations and lived realities of craft professionals. After all, no workforce strategy succeeds unless it makes sense to the workforce itself.
What we found
The workforce still values credentials. Across the board, workers consistently indicated that credentials matter for getting hired and, even more importantly, for getting promoted. In many cases, credentials are seen not as optional, but as something that help them stand out in a competitive environment.
The majority of respondents rated credentials as either "very valuable" or "somewhat valuable." Only a small minority indicated that credentials were "slightly valuable" or "not at all valuable." Additionally, our interviews didn’t just echo the survey results, they brought them to life, as participants described credentials as practical tools for getting hired, advancing and standing out in a competitive workforce.
This matters because it confirms that workers associate credentials with access, advancement and professional mobility. For industry leaders, this reinforces an important point: training and skills development programs still holds credibility with the workforce.
However, what stood out most was why credentials matter. One of the questions we asked included whether training that leads to a credential is valuable, or is it considered merely checking-a-box? Consistently, our participants indicated that they view credentials as proof that the credential holder knows what they’re doing, that they take their craft seriously and that they are a marker of greater responsibility.
In interviews, our participants repeatedly described credentials as something that makes you feel like a "competent, dedicated person." The idea that credentials were nothing more than a box to check was overwhelmingly not an aspect we heard from our participants. This language tells us that credentials are not just technical tools; they are definitive signals of credibility. They help workers establish identity in their craft and communicate value to employers in a way that experience alone sometimes cannot.
This finding was confirmed through other questions as well and continues to challenge the common assumption that credentials are pursued primarily for compliance or financial gain. While many participants did indicate practical motivations such as employer requirements, promotion or better pay, the most frequently selected reason that participants gave for earning credentials was intrinsic: "I enjoy learning new things." This suggests that credential pursuit is not driven solely by external pressure, but by a genuine desire for growth and mastery.
If workers are motivated by personal development, then training and skills development programs should be framed not merely as requirements, but as opportunities for advancement, skill refinement and professional identity. Organizations that tap into this intrinsic motivation, by making learning visible, valued and supported will see stronger participation and long-term engagement. The data reinforce a powerful idea: the workforce is not resistant to learning; it is motivated by it.
The final takeaway we found through our study was the consistency of all these perceptions across every demographic marker we captured. Overall credential value did not vary significantly by age, experience level or trade and craft. Whether someone was just entering the workforce or had decades of experience, whether they were in electrical, welding or general construction, the perception was largely the same: credentials are an important part of a construction career.
So, do credentials still matter?
The answer from the workforce is clear. They matter for hiring. They matter for promotion. They matter for identity. And perhaps most importantly, they matter because workers themselves want to grow.
In a moment defined by workforce shortages, generational transition and expanding demand, credentials remain a powerful tool. The question is no longer whether they matter. The question is whether we are aligning our systems to match the motivation and commitment of the people doing the work.
For more information, visit nccer.org.
