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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_ (link opens in a new browser window)
Email Sarah O'Connor @sarahoconnor_ (link opens in a new browser window)

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  • Tuesday, 19 January, 2021
    Minimum-Living wage
    The minimum wage alone can’t save the US working class

    It’s not a magic wand. As Winston Churchill argued, other measures are needed too

  • Tuesday, 12 January, 2021
    Coronavirus pandemic
    Workplace surveillance may hurt us more than it helps

    Many employers are monitoring staff, some deciding ‘who’s a superstar and who’s slacking off’

  • Monday, 21 December, 2020
    Employment
    Time spent in the pub is a wise investment

    Covid homeworking makes it harder to build bonds and network with colleagues

  • Wednesday, 16 December, 2020
    Special ReportThe World Ahead
    Life in 2025: what will the future look like?

    From finance and tech to work, consumer trends and energy, FT and Nikkei journalists imagine the world in five years’ time

  • Monday, 14 December, 2020
    UK employment
    Punitive sick leave rules make us all pay

    Covid-19 is forcing companies to rethink their treatment of staff with health problems

  • Monday, 7 December, 2020
    UK employment
    People understand statistics better than politicians think

    If the public are ‘sceptical and cynical’ about economic data, it is because it does not always reflect reality

  • Monday, 30 November, 2020
    UK universities
    The academic precariat deserves better

    For those reliant on short-term university contracts, work can be chaotic and uncertain

  • Monday, 23 November, 2020
    UK employment
    The shift to remote work carries an inherent risk

    If your job can be done from home, can it be offshored somewhere cheaper?

  • Monday, 16 November, 2020
    Coronavirus economic impact
    Levelling up is easier in a world of remote work

    We have a once-in-a-generation chance to rebalance the economy

  • Promoted Content
  • Monday, 9 November, 2020
    Gig economy
    The gig economy is a symptom of bigger problems

    So far, Uber and other gig companies have warded off an existential threat to their business models

  • Tuesday, 3 November, 2020
    Coronavirus pandemic
    Key workers must be kept safer in Covid’s second wave

    Lessons were missed in the first wave that could protect UK employees now

  • Tuesday, 27 October, 2020
    UK employment
    Threadbare sick pay is a false economy

    Support for workers in quarantine is a crucial part of reducing the spread of Covid

  • Tuesday, 20 October, 2020
    UK employment
    What a ready-meals factory tells us about hidden inequality

    Agency staff may do the same work as employees but lack security and suffer penalties

  • Friday, 16 October, 2020
    Long Story Short
    A selection of the FT’s biggest stories and best reads every Friday

    Sarah O'Connor’s top reads: US election race heats up | A view into Hockney’s world | The geography of coronavirus in Britain

  • Tuesday, 13 October, 2020
    Supply chains
    Retail’s tick-box approach to supply chains is untenable

    To halt labour abuses, companies must stop thinking about the issue as a matter of ethics

  • Tuesday, 6 October, 2020
    Employment
    Covid-19 could be the start of a better era for women who work

    The pandemic has been tough on female workers but it presents a chance to fix long-ignored problems

  • Tuesday, 29 September, 2020
    Coronavirus economic impact
    Be bold like FDR and create jobs directly

    A British ‘New Deal’ must equip the unemployed with skills for the future

  • Tuesday, 15 September, 2020
    Employment
    Do not let homeworking become digital piecework for the poor

    Low rates of pay, opacity and powerlessness built into crowd-work platforms should be policed

  • Tuesday, 1 September, 2020
    UK employment
    Goodbye to the ‘Pret economy’ and good luck to whatever replaces it

    Cities will not die — their benefits could become more diffuse, with well-paid workers spread into the rest of the country

  • Tuesday, 18 August, 2020
    Gig economy
    Uber ruling shows gig economy is running out of road

    Ride-hailing apps are being told to reclassify their drivers as employees with corresponding rights

  • Tuesday, 4 August, 2020
    ESG investing
    Sustainable funds must work harder to vet ESG investments

    Boohoo shows that pseudo-scientific scoring systems are no substitute for thorough, time-consuming research

  • Tuesday, 21 July, 2020
    US employment
    Don’t just kill off zombie jobs, create better ones

    Governments should demand improved working conditions in sectors that are growing

  • Friday, 3 July, 2020
    Coronavirus economic impact
    Leicester’s dark factories show up a diseased system

    The bill for government inaction on the costs of online fast fashion has come due

  • Tuesday, 26 May, 2020
    UK business & economy
    We need health and safety at work more than ever

    Boris Johnson’s plan to restart the economy relies on a regulator weakened by his party, all in the name of economic growth

  • Wednesday, 1 April, 2020
    UK employment
    Time to make amends to the low-paid essential worker

    The coronavirus crisis has exposed the plight of a precarious army labouring around the clock

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