Credible skills signals help alleviate information barriers for both job seekers and firms, and often improve employment and earnings at a low cost. More and better information enables applicants to have a more effective job search, often resulting in higher-quality jobs and better employment matches for businesses. Further research should study whether some job seekers lose out when their peers use these skills signals.

Globally, roughly 188 million people were unemployed in 2023. At the same time, 75 percent of employers reported difficulties filling vacancies in a 2023 survey. Youth are particularly hard-hit by lack of access to jobs, and in some regions, they are up to three times more likely than the general population to be unemployed. Limited information between job seekers and employers often hinders matches in the labor market. Job seekers, especially young people, often struggle to showcase or credibly certify their skills and sometimes struggle to assess their own skills in relation to the skill sets required for different jobs. Similarly, employers often find it difficult to assess the qualifications of job applicants, especially in contexts where education quality is unknown and thus does not serve as a credible signal of an applicant’s skills.