Sarah O'Connor | Financial Times

Tuesday, 19 January, 2021

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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