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This article explores the demands that employers make on education in the context of the Mediterranean micro-state of Malta. It first of all provides a profile of the employing class on the island, and describes the mechanisms that employers use in order to influence educational policy-making. The expectations that industrialists have from schooling, in terms of a range of desiderata that include knowledge, attitudes and skills, are examined on both technical and normative grounds. Particular attention is paid to the sets of motives that underlie employers' demands, and whether these stand in conflict with the goals that educators aim for. Throughout the article, an attempt is made to connect the Maltese situation with that obtaining in other countries, while remaining sensitive to the specificity imposed by Malta's geographic location, scale, and economic status as a peripheral, intermediately developed post-colonial society.