Average cash pay premiums for IT certifications and noncertified skills have continued to decline for the third consecutive year, according to data from Foote Partners.
The findings, based on compensation data from 109,872 IT professionals at 4,865 employers across the U.S. and Canada, show that despite the overall decline, more than 90 noncertified IT skills still earn workers average bonuses equal to 17–23% of base pay, while 40 certifications command average bonuses of 10–15%.
However, market volatility for IT skills pay is climbing. The report found that 404 of 1,371 tracked skills and certifications — roughly 30% — changed in market value in Q3 2025, up from 280 of 1,340 (21%) one year earlier.
The ratio of gains to declines also shifted sharply this quarter. In Q3 2025, 161 IT skills and certifications gained market value, while 243 declined.
By comparison, the previous quarter saw 190 gains and 196 declines. Most of the recent volatility stemmed from certifications, with 50 gaining and 87 losing market value — a 30% increase in quarter-to-quarter volatility.
Foote Partners’ long-term tracking also shows that the gap between noncertified and certified IT skills remains at a four-year high.
On average, noncertified IT skills continue to earn about 3% more in cash pay premiums than certified ones, underscoring persistent employer demand for demonstrable, hands-on expertise over credential-based qualifications.
Another recent report from Fortinet found employer funding for certifications is falling, with just 73% of organizations now covering certification costs for employees — down from 89% in 2023.
Summary
How Should IT Pros Shift?
Nicky Hancock, Chief Growth Officer for AMS, says the continued decline in IT certification pay reflects a decrease in market value of those specific skills, and an overall market shift toward proof of capability over credentials.
“Employers are prioritizing adaptive, hands-on skills particularly in areas like AI, data, and automation over static certifications,” she explains. “For IT professionals, this means investing in practical experience and agility is becoming more valuable than simply collecting badges.”
She advises that as certification premiums shrink, IT professionals should focus on cultivating versatile, experience-based skills that demonstrate business impact and problem-solving abilities.
“Upskilling through real-world projects, mentorship, and cross-functional collaboration can help maintain competitiveness, as the continued evolution of AI has made tasks such as basic data analysis, manual coding, and administrative support less valuable,” she says.
From Hancock’s perspective, employers increasingly view validated experience as more predictive of success than certifications alone.
“Demonstrating skill through tangible outcomes like contributions to open-source projects, digital portfolios, or measurable business results proves real-world value,” she says.
Is Upskilling More Important?
Rob Rashotte, Vice President of Global Training and Technical Field Enablement at Fortinet, says the findings underscore the importance of upskilling and reskilling existing employees, as well as the need for recruiters and hiring managers to take more creative and flexible approaches to recruiting new talent.
“Reexamining and revising education and training requirements for cybersecurity roles is a great place to start,” he says.
For example, many organizations still prioritize traditional qualifications such as four-year degrees, yet 91% of the survey respondents say that candidates with cybersecurity certifications stand out.
“We’re already seeing organizations place more emphasis on recruiting and retaining cybersecurity talent,” Rashotte says.
Hancock says employers are prioritizing candidates with emerging skills while some highly technical, non-certified skills can become outdated, noting tech workers who actively track emerging technologies and align their development with organizational priorities will maintain market relevance.
“Agility, curiosity, and a willingness to reskill are now the hallmarks of career durability,” she says.
How Does This Affect Training, Certification?
Didzis Balodis, Senior Manager of InfoSec and IT Ops at Lokalise, says there has been a shift from static learning in the certification tracks to flexible, continuous learning models.
“With pay premiums for certs going down, working professionals will opt for skills-oriented, bite-sized platforms such as labs, bootcamps, or microcredentials that emphasize doing rather than memorization,” he says.
He adds with fast-emerging areas such as AI and cloud, learning by building is the new norm. This also makes training providers' jobs harder, with scenario-based labs and real-time simulation to replace multiple-choice test prep.
“The winners here will be those who are able to replicate real-world environments and provide tangible ROI to the learners,” he says.
Hancock says training providers will be pushed to evolve, emphasizing applied, experiential learning over theoretical instruction.
Meanwhile, IT professionals will need to adopt more self-directed, project-based learning paths that align with rapidly changing technologies such as AI and cybersecurity.
“Continuous learning will become less about credentials and more about capability development,” she explains.
How Can IT Pros Stay Ahead?
Hancock says to stay ahead, IT professionals should leverage real-time labor market analytics and workforce insights to monitor which skills are rising in demand.
“Platforms that aggregate job postings, compensation data, and talent trends can guide smart upskilling choices,” she says. “Staying informed is no longer optional, it’s a strategic career habit in today’s data-driven labor market.”
Balodis recommends IT pros treat skills as stock tickers and monitor their performance.
This includes keeping up with online salary data sources, but he also advises going one step further--follow the job boards for frequency of skill mentions, LinkedIn's rising job trends, and GitHub repositories that are accumulating stars.
“Even subreddits and Discord groups provide raw information directly from working professionals,” he says.
He points out progressive tech professionals are building personal dashboards that monitor the job posting data and skills demand over time, aiding wiser upskilling decisions and refraining from investing in dying tech stacks.
“What's important now is proof of execution,” he says. “Project-level validation is now being favored over paper qualifications.”
Professionals can demonstrate this through the creation of a digital portfolio, contributing to public repos, drafting technical case studies describing previous work, or producing concise walkthroughs or demos that highlight problem-solving in the real world.
A good GitHub repo or a technical blog describing how you fixed up a CI/CD pipeline is way more convincing than a bullet point on a resume.
“The best candidates are becoming observable practitioners rather than just learners,” Balodis says.