I wonder why it wasn't done earlier as the pandemic has been over for a while.
Organizations have been coasting on their pre-Covid reputations for a while. Now it’s time for them to adjust the slider the other way.
I don't know about this part. Years ago, my friend in college was taking all kinds of Microsoft certification exams and passing them with near perfect score. Thing is, he had no clue about most of the topics he passed, he had never worked with those tech. He just spent a bunch of time collecting questions (which wasn't that hard to find) and memorizing the answers. They could've made it difficult enough so just rote memorization wouldn't work, but they didn't (don't know if it has changed now).
Companies had long figured out these certifications are just easy money. It is hard to resist the temptation to just charge hundreds of dollars for a test and add it as a "profit center"
They might still be able to scam folks into taking the test, but the test itself has essentially no meaningful value in industry.
Personally - I see "Agile certifications" as the same thing but from the last decade.
I don't know what that says but it sure says something.
Fixed that for you.
Also, they'll try and buy laws that force people to deal with them. Only if that doesn't work will they try and get their own house in order.
The pandemic isn't actually over, at least, not for disabled people.
It is now endemic instead, and needs to be managed as such.