Certificates don't make the IT hirer's job easier. If anything they make it harder by introducing a faulty indicator of quality.

So why do fools ask for them? Because it gives them an excuse. If they employ someone who turns out to be useless (which they're going to do at some point regardless of certification, because no interview and filtering process is perfect) then if there's a certificate they can at least point at it and whine "but XYZ authority figure said he was OK" and then *their* boss will give them the benefit of the doubt.

Certificates are, in IT, arse-covering material for the hirer, nothing more.