In my experience it's the more conservative/less fashionable/less well remunerated entities that care about certs. They serve as something of an insurance polic

In my experience it's the more conservative/less fashionable/less well remunerated entities that care about certs. They serve as something of an insurance policy for managers that don't trust their ability to discern good from bad when hiring. Edit: they're also used by some organisations to contain salary growth, i.e., even though you're worth x to the company and learnt y and z this year, you don't get a pay rise without a certificate.