For the last five years the author has been involved in a five-year trans-disciplinary research program funded by the New Zealand government on education employment linkages for young people. His research has focused on employer-led channels at the regional level, investigating how opportunities and requirements of employers in a region are communicated to young people as they make key education choices. This paper summarises the major findings of this part of the research programme, paying particular attention to the role of careers offices in post-school education institutions. The work draws on the skill ecosystem metaphor introduced initially by David Finegold (1999) and developed more recently by the NSW Board of Vocational Education and Training in Australia in collaboration with a research team led by John Buchanan at the University of Sydney