He is wrong, actually. STEM fields are the exception. Most white-collar jobs require an undergrad degree, but the industry itself doesn't require a particular job-related credential, and the degree itself isn't enough to get a job.

Uh... Law? Medicine? Accounting? Eng.? Teaching? What other job where you actually need hard technical skills equivalent to software dev is there no widely used non-commercial credentialing system?

Outside of a relatively small percentage of professional engineer certifications, there is generally no credentialing system in engineering or the sciences outside of academic degrees--the requirements for which may be more or less rigid in a given case. While some business roles may require an MBA, this is probably less true than in the past. A given position might also give preference to some industry cert.

But outside of medical, legal, and certain financial roles, you're more likely to see formal non-academic licensing for truck drivers and hairdressers than for white collar professionals.