Importance of Masters degree for a career in specialized fields.

Hey guys,

27M here. I am a Supply Chain Generalist now. I have a keen interest in Operations Research which is a very specialized field which involves applied mathematics to optimise the systems. From my research I have found that recruiters give a great emphasis on Masters degree for such roles

Getting a masters from abroad isn't affordable for me and to get a master's, I will have to slog for the GATE exam. I have graduated like in 2019. Don't recall anything will have to start from scratch will need minimum 2 years of time preparing alongwith job.

There is also another way where I can study the topics from MIT Open edu/coursera/nptel. And work on learning python and R. but it may never be prove my competence as opposed to a Full time masters degree from IITs

What is the best way forward? Since Operations Research is closely associated with Machine Learning as well many of you techies might help me. Do you emphasis on degrees when hiring for such roles?