When Mikko Lee walked into an Abbott laboratory this year as a newly minted associate scientist, she was closing a loop that had taken 13 years to draw. She first stepped into the organization at age 10, in 2013, as a participant in its Young Scientist Program. Two internships and a biological sciences degree later, she is now part of Abbott's Graduate Trainee program at its nutrition research and development site in Singapore.

For talent leaders, her story is more than a feel-good arc. It is a working illustration of a question employers in Singapore can no longer defer: If the country needs a bigger, more diverse STEM workforce, when does the hiring actually begin? READ MORE