Accessibility helpSkip to navigationSkip to contentSkip to footer

Cookies on FT Sites

We use cookies and other data for a number of reasons, such as keeping FT Sites reliable and secure, personalising content and ads, providing social media features and to analyse how our Sites are used.

Accept cookies
Manage cookies
  • Sign In
  • Subscribe
Open side navigation menuOpen search bar
Financial Times
SubscribeSign InmyFT
  • Home
  • World
    Sections
    • World Home
    • Global Economy
    • UK
    • US
    • China
    • Africa
    • Asia Pacific
    • Emerging Markets
    • Europe
    • War in Ukraine
    • Americas
    • Middle East & North Africa
    • Australia & NZ
    Most Read
    • ‘Dare to fight’: Xi Jinping unveils China’s new world order
    • Donald Trump indicted on criminal charges in New York
    • Donald Trump to surrender to New York prosecutors on Tuesday
    • Donald Trump indictment thrusts a divided nation into new chapter of chaos
    • Finland’s PM Sanna Marin faces reckoning at home
  • US
    Sections
    • US Home
    • US Economy
    • US Companies
    • US Politics & Policy
    Most Read
    • Companies
      Sections
      • Companies Home
      • Banks in turmoil
      • Energy
      • Financials
      • Health
      • Industrials
      • Media
      • Professional Services
      • Retail & Consumer
      • Tech Sector
      • Telecoms
      • Transport
      Most Read
      • Colm Kelleher: Irish financial crisis veteran orchestrating Credit Suisse takeover
      • UK is global equity markets ‘backwater’, Nick Train warns
      • Dealmaking at 10-year low in first quarter as bank crisis hits confidence
      • How rising interest rates are exposing bank weaknesses
      • Virgin Orbit shares plunge after announcing ‘ceased operations’
    • Tech
    • Markets
      Sections
      • Markets Home
      • Alphaville
      • Markets Data
      • Cryptofinance
      • Capital Markets
      • Commodities
      • Currencies
      • Equities
      • Fund Management
      • Trading
      • Moral Money
      • ETF Hub
      Most Read
      • Prepare for a multipolar currency world
      • Live news updates from March 31: Nasdaq posts biggest quarterly gain since 2020, Eurozone inflation slows
      • Flood of cash into US money market funds could add to banking strains
      • UK is global equity markets ‘backwater’, Nick Train warns
      • How rising interest rates are exposing bank weaknesses
    • Climate
    • Opinion
      Sections
      • Opinion Home
      • Columnists
      • The FT View
      • Lex
      • Obituaries
      • Letters
      Most Read
      • Prepare for a multipolar currency world
      • Why are Americans dying so young?
      • We are living through a trillion-dollar rebalancing
      • Law versus man: Trump’s courtroom drama begins
      • Multiple red flags are not yet slowing the generative AI train
    • Work & Careers
      Sections
      • Work & Careers Home
      • Business School Rankings
      • Business Education
      • Entrepreneurship
      • Recruitment
      • Business Books
      • Business Travel
      Most Read
      • Boomerang chief executives provide comfort in times of crisis
      • Matthew Desmond: ‘America does so much more to subsidise affluence than alleviate poverty’
    • Life & Arts
      Sections
      • Life & Arts Home
      • Arts
      • Books
      • Food & Drink
      • FT Magazine
      • House & Home
      • Style
      • Travel
      • FT Globetrotter
      Most Read
      • I used AI to bet on horse-racing. Here’s what happened
      • Serhiy Prytula: ‘The defence minister said: “Try to buy a satellite.” I thought he was joking’
      • Gwyneth Paltrow, ‘stealth wealth’ star of the courtroom catwalk
      • Chinese artists test censorship’s new red line
      • It’s morally repugnant, but isolationism on Ukraine makes some sense
    • HTSI
    MenuSearch
    • Home
    • World
    • US
    • Companies
    • Tech
    • Markets
    • Climate
    • Opinion
    • Work & Careers
    • Life & Arts
    • HTSI
    Financial Times
    SubscribeSign In

    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)

    Add to myFT Digest

    Add this topic to your myFT Digest for news straight to your inbox

    • 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

    • 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

    • 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 business & 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

    • 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

    • Tuesday, 7 February, 2023
      Education
      We should all be asking more questions

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

    • 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

    • 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

    • Tuesday, 17 January, 2023
      Working It podcast19 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

    • 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

    • 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

    • 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

    • 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

    • 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

    • 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

    • 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

    • 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

    • 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

    Previous page You are on page 1 Next page

    Useful links

    Support

    View Site TipsHelp CentreContact UsAbout UsAccessibilitymyFT TourCareers

    Legal & Privacy

    Terms & ConditionsPrivacy PolicyCookiesCopyrightSlavery Statement & Policies

    Services

    Share News Tips SecurelyIndividual SubscriptionsGroup SubscriptionsRepublishingExecutive Job SearchAdvertise with the FTFollow the FT on TwitterFT ChannelsSecondary Schools

    Tools

    PortfolioToday's Newspaper (ePaper)Alerts HubBusiness School RankingsEnterprise ToolsNews feedNewslettersCurrency Converter

    Community & Events

    FT CommunityFT Live EventsFT ForumsFT Board DirectorBoard Director Programme

    More from the FT Group

    Markets data delayed by at least 15 minutes. © THE FINANCIAL TIMES LTD 2023. FT and ‘Financial Times’ are trademarks of The Financial Times Ltd.
    The Financial Times and its journalism are subject to a self-regulation regime under the FT Editorial Code of Practice.
    Financial Times

    International Edition

    Subscribe for full access
    • Switch to UK Edition

    Top sections

    • Home
    • World
      • Global Economy
      • UK
      • US
      • China
      • Africa
      • Asia Pacific
      • Emerging Markets
      • Europe
      • War in Ukraine
      • Americas
      • Middle East & North Africa
      • Australia & NZ
    • US
      • US Economy
      • US Companies
      • US Politics & Policy
    • Companies
      • Banks in turmoil
      • Energy
      • Financials
      • Health
      • Industrials
      • Media
      • Professional Services
      • Retail & Consumer
      • Tech Sector
      • Telecoms
      • Transport
    • Tech
    • Markets
      • Alphaville
      • Markets Data
      • Cryptofinance
      • Capital Markets
      • Commodities
      • Currencies
      • Equities
      • Fund Management
      • Trading
      • Moral Money
      • ETF Hub
    • Climate
    • Opinion
      • Columnists
      • The FT View
      • Lex
      • Obituaries
      • Letters
    • Work & Careers
      • Business School Rankings
      • Business Education
      • Entrepreneurship
      • Recruitment
      • Business Books
      • Business Travel
    • Life & Arts
      • Arts
      • Books
      • Food & Drink
      • FT Magazine
      • House & Home
      • Style
      • Travel
      • FT Globetrotter
    • Personal Finance
      • Property & Mortgages
      • Investments
      • Pensions
      • Tax
      • Banking & Savings
      • Advice & Comment
      • Next Act
    • HTSI
    • Special Reports

    FT recommends

    • Lex
    • Alphaville
    • Lunch with the FT
    • FT Globetrotter
    • #techAsia
    • Moral Money
    • FTfm
    • Newsletters
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • News feed
    • FT Live Events
    • FT Forums
    • Board Director Programme
    • myFT
    • Portfolio
    • Today's Newspaper (ePaper)
    • Crossword
    • Our Apps
    • Help Centre
    • Subscribe
    • Sign In