On his third day back in office, President Trump signed an executive order to spur American leadership in artificial intelligence. The order revoked previous policies that “act as barriers to American AI innovation, clearing a path for the United States to act decisively to retain global leadership in artificial intelligence” and direct certain agencies to create action plans for AI advancement. Policymakers must recognize that while clearing onerous regulations is a priority, skilled labor shortages will continue to hobble further AI expansion without specific action to upskill American workers. Micro-credential programs can help fill this pressing market need.
Ironically, despite concerns about AI taking jobs and replacing workers, it is well-documented that there is a labor shortage in AI. A report from the Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET) found that job listings for AI-related jobs increased dramatically—by even as much as 30 times—between 2015 and 2018 while offering higher and higher salaries. Despite the leap in demand, few answered the call and searches lagged far behind listings. A report from Pluralsight suggests this is because only around 12 percent of IT professionals have the experience necessary to transition into AI roles. There is a disconnect between who the industry needs and who is available to fill the gap.
Fortunately, the market is already adapting to fill these roles by deemphasizing traditional degrees and focusing on specific skills. Research on the AI jobs market finds significant evidence of “skills-based hiring for AI” where “university education requirements for AI roles declined by 15 [percent].” By decoupling skills from degrees, the AI industry can instantly expand its talent pool to include skilled workers—or workers who can upskill quickly—outside of slow-moving traditional institutions. There is a precedent in the labor market for prioritizing skills over degrees. The consulting firm, McKinsey, found that businesses that created skill-focused job listings saw dramatic increases in applications, in one case quadrupling the applicants and hiring a successful candidate who had previously not passed the initial, degree-based screening. This pattern could extend into the tech field as AI firms drop their degree preferences.
As employers de-emphasize degrees and instead prioritize skill attainment, upskilling programs like “micro-credentials” offer more value—especially as an onramp to AI careers. Unlike multi-year degrees, micro-credential programs focus on quickly and affordably equipping individuals with relevant skills for specific careers. They tend to have participants ready within a year by focusing exclusively on the necessary, in-demand skills to get hired in a changing economy. Since the credentials are stackable, they can more easily keep pace with a rapidly changing AI labor market, enabling workers to acquire more skills, and thereby increasing job mobility.
Programs like DeepLearning.ai, for example, offer courses taught by leading industry experts and collaborate with many of the biggest companies in AI, including Google, OpenAI, and Amazon to best identify which skills are in the highest demand by tech companies—and which will be most valuable for their students. Traditional institutions like Purdue University and the University of Florida are also adapting to offer AI-relevant micro-credentials courses at a fraction of the cost of a full degree and in as little as 15 hours.
According to a press release from Purdue, such new program offerings help drive their mission to empower adults “to develop essential academic and professional skills with the support and flexibility they need to achieve their career goals.” With more programs emerging around the country, micro-credentials are quickly becoming a viable pathway for filling vacancies in AI firms. Where demand for skills—not degrees—is so high, programs that teach AI-relevant skills like machine learning, neural networks, and statistical analysis will likely see high placement rates in the coming years.
With private firms and traditional schools rising to the challenge of reskilling American workers, entrepreneurs are finding ways to solve the AI labor shortage. They recognize that business demand is not the issue but labor supply, so they help workers expand their capabilities and claim these higher-paid and more abundant roles in AI. With dramatic and recent AI growth, it is difficult to truly predict how jobs will be affected, making legislative responses equally difficult.
As policymakers respond to Trump’s pro-AI vision, they should explore options to let existing and emerging micro-credential programs thrive. By clearing the way for micro-credential programs, policymakers can help alleviate the labor shortage currently inhibiting AI development while also helping Americans develop and refine new skills and earn higher wages. That’s a win-win for America’s future.
Nate Karren is a policy analyst with the American Consumer Institute, a nonprofit education and research organization. For more information about the Institute, follow us on X @ConsumerPal.