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Sarah O'Connor

Employment columnist

Sarah O'Connor is a columnist, reporter and associate editor at the Financial Times. She writes a weekly column focused on the world of work, as well as longer reported articles.

She joined the FT in 2007 and has covered the US economy from Washington DC, the UK economy from London and the financial crisis from Iceland.

Email Sarah O'Connor @sarahoconnor_  on Twitter (link opens in a new browser window)
  • Tuesday, 28 March, 2023
    Future of work
    We are all secretaries now

    Cost-cutting has left workers drowning in ‘self-service’ admin tasks — but AI might come to the rescue

    FT montage image showing a man working at a computer, with a clock and notifications for emails and messages hovering in the background
  • Saturday, 25 March, 2023
    Special ReportWorld of Work
    My first job: what I wish I had known

    Tips to make a good impression from the start, from those who have been there before

    illustration of a person going into their first job
  • Tuesday, 21 March, 2023
    UK employment
    Now is not the moment to push people into just any job

    Forcing the unemployed into low-paid work isn’t a good solution to today’s labour market problems

  • Wednesday, 8 March, 2023
    Economists Exchange
    Alan Manning: ‘Achieving growth by just having more people is not what we should aim for’

    The UK government’s former immigration adviser considers whether Britain’s post-Brexit migrant strategy has worked

  • Tuesday, 7 March, 2023
    Coronavirus economic impact
    The plight of ship crews stranded at sea

    Maritime workers are a vital link in supply chains but have little visibility and little protection

  • Tuesday, 28 February, 2023
    UK economy
    Here’s how to stop an ever sicker workforce dropping out

    Occupational therapists may provide one practical solution to those struggling with their physical or mental health

    FT montage showing a therapist working with a patient
  • Tuesday, 14 February, 2023
    UK employment
    It is possible to hate your job but love your work

    People find meaning in all kinds of employment — but that can be eroded by low pay, bureaucracy and squeezed resources

    A pile of folders with two hands emerging from either side
  • Tuesday, 7 February, 2023
    Education
    We should all be asking more questions

    Fear of looking ‘stupid’ holds us back from understanding the world better

    FT montage of three raised hands with question marks above them
  • Tuesday, 31 January, 2023
    Employment
    The kids are alright after all

    It was feared the pandemic would harm young people’s job prospects but so far that doesn’t appear to be true

    Commuters on waterloo bridge with chart lines showing youth unemployment in various countries
  • Tuesday, 24 January, 2023
    Economic statistics
    How (not) to explain economics to the public

    The UK chancellor’s attempt to do so risked exacerbating an already significant deficit of trust and understanding

    FT montage of 3 coffee cups going from big to small and a line representing falling inflation
  • Tuesday, 17 January, 2023
    Working It19 min listen
    Is maternity leave still a career killer?

    There is enduring stigma around motherhood in the workplace

  • Tuesday, 17 January, 2023
    Employment
    In labour markets, the devil is often in the detail

    Non-compete clauses buried in contracts stack the deck against workers

    Montage image of a person pointing at a piece of paper, with another hand holding a pen writing on it
  • Tuesday, 10 January, 2023
    Employment
    Solving strikes is not about winning the argument

    Creative solutions are needed if we are to unlock the current disputes

    A man shouts into a megaphone, with striking workers holding placards in the background
  • Tuesday, 3 January, 2023
    Social affairs
    It is getting harder for charities to maintain the social safety net

    The cash-strapped voluntary sector does things the state used to, including providing basic necessities

    A food bank in Newham, east London. Increasingly charities are providing people with staples such as food amid real-terms benefit cuts
  • Tuesday, 20 December, 2022
    UK employment
    Has the pendulum really swung from capital to labour?

    Worker power hasn’t strengthened as much as expected in 2022

    NHS nurses hold placards during a strike over pay outside St Thomas’ Hospital in London
  • Thursday, 15 December, 2022
    UK employment
    What if work is making us sick?

    While employment has become less physically dangerous, it seems to have become more psychologically harmful

  • Tuesday, 6 December, 2022
    Ageing Populations
    Do you really want to live to be 100?

    ‘Healthy life expectancy’ is an important measure of what people want — and in the UK, it’s not looking good

  • Tuesday, 29 November, 2022
    UK energy
    Britain is two countries when it comes to energy

    The combination of prepayment meters, vulnerable customers and a cost of living crisis is a bad one

  • Tuesday, 22 November, 2022
    Mental health
    There is a deepening mental health recession

    Many countries are struggling with a rise in the numbers of people reporting problems with anxiety and depression

    Illustration of a bust of a sad person with stickers reading ‘Stay apart’ and ‘Stay safe - keep your distance’ stuck on its head and surrounded by unopened, unpaid bills
  • Tuesday, 15 November, 2022
    Technology
    Tech lay-offs teach us a lesson about the ‘war for talent’

    Benevolent workplace dictatorships can seem fine until they’re not so benevolent any more

    James Ferguson illustration of sacked workers in suits coming out from a glass building carrying their boxes of office possessions
  • Tuesday, 15 November, 2022
    News in-depthNews in-depth3 min
    Can rapid delivery apps get back on track? | FT Transact

    The FT’s Sarah O’Connor looks at what’s behind the downloads dive, and options available for companies affected

  • Tuesday, 1 November, 2022
    UK interest rates
    How will we remember the age of cheap money?

    The end of low interest rates is stripping off a veneer of affluence

    Two images, one of a Deliveroo rider and another of a hand holding a mobile with the Klarna app on the screen.
  • Wednesday, 26 October, 2022
    UK immigration
    Immigration policy will not cure Britain’s labour market ills

    The tired debate over migrants being either ‘good’ or ‘bad’ has never served the country well

    James Ferguson illustration of hands holding placards with slogans such as low wages and lousy work
  • Tuesday, 18 October, 2022
    UK public services
    Hunt still has a fiscal hole to fill, but Britain’s fabric is fraying

    After a decade of austerity, public services are not an easy target to cut

    Black and white cutout image of Jeremy Hunt’s head and shoulders against a background of a large pound note tinted blue with a red U-turn arrow running around Hunt
  • Tuesday, 11 October, 2022
    UK financial crisis
    Most people don’t know what GDP growth is

    And that is a problem for Liz Truss, who has made it her governing mantra

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