Sarah O'Connor

Monday, 9 October, 2023

Tuesday, 26 September, 2023

Employment

Net zero was never going to be an easy win for workers

The green transition will be hard and involve trade-offs policymakers would rather not talk about

Tuesday, 19 September, 2023

UK employment

Why don’t people leave bad jobs?

Giving workers a bit more security might make the labour market more flexible, not less

Tuesday, 12 September, 2023

Employment

Experiments are key for more grown-up industrial relations

In the UK, the Labour party’s commitment to sectoral collective bargaining could bring positive changes

Tuesday, 22 August, 2023

Minimum-Living wage

The minimum wage has passed the high inflation test

It reduces pay inequality while employment doesn’t suffer — even if productivity is not boosted

Tuesday, 15 August, 2023

Office life

Beware of performative policymaking

There’s a lesson for politicians in the fate of laws introduced around the world establishing a ‘right to disconnect’

Tuesday, 8 August, 2023

UK labour productivity

In praise of the ‘techies’ who make companies more productive

As it stands on the verge of the next industrial revolution, Britain needs people who can put new technology to good use

Tuesday, 25 July, 2023

UK Inequality

Globalisation is not to blame for Britain’s insecurity problem

The country’s precarious low-wage jobs and shortage of affordable housing are hardly the fault of international forces

Tuesday, 18 July, 2023

Social affairs

Some people need to be nudged into saving

Successful trials in the UK are a useful reminder of the protective power of the ‘rainy day fund’

Tuesday, 11 July, 2023

Health

It’s time to relearn the lost art of leisure

We should prioritise rest now, rather than waiting for an automated future that may never arrive

Monday, 3 July, 2023

Global Economy

There is more to life and death than GDP

Economic growth isn’t the only way to compare how well countries are doing

Tuesday, 27 June, 2023

UK mortgage rates

Why higher rates risk reigniting intergenerational conflict

A cohort of people in their mid-30s have probably been pummelled twice by monetary policy over the past decade

Tuesday, 20 June, 2023

UK politics

Politicians must send the right signals on ‘green’ jobs

Without clear incentives from government, demand for employment in the decarbonisation effort will continue to lag behind

Sunday, 18 June, 2023

FT SeriesAI in the workplace

AI shakes up way we work in three key industries

Professional services, filmmaking and coding are among the first to use the technology in everyday operations

Tuesday, 13 June, 2023

Employment

Why ‘harvested by hand’ labels bother me

Supermarket claims about the use of human labour rather than machines give us too little information

Tuesday, 6 June, 2023

Working from home

How the digital nomad went corporate

The romanticism of work on the move has collided with the realities of tax and immigration

Thursday, 1 June, 2023

Economists Exchange

Andrew Scott: ‘We have to invest much more in our future selves’

We’ve never expected people to be living into their 10th decade, so we’ve never planned for it. Now that must change

Tuesday, 30 May, 2023

Work & Careers

Don’t bet against the ‘suitcase principle’ of white-collar work

Humans have a remarkable ability to create jobs for themselves — whatever the progress of technology

Wednesday, 24 May, 2023

Artificial intelligence

Let’s not write people off as ‘AI losers’

The idea that the outcome of technological change is inevitable is both dangerous and untrue

Tuesday, 9 May, 2023

Working from home

The ability to work from home does not just benefit the elite

More flexibility has improved work-life balance for many since the pandemic began

Tuesday, 2 May, 2023

UK society

People are numb to big numbers

Millions, billions, trillions — the human brain isn’t wired to comprehend information on a large scale

Tuesday, 25 April, 2023

UK employment

Let’s enforce existing labour market laws before we write new ones

The UK lags behind the rest of the developed world in ensuring compliance with regulations

Tuesday, 18 April, 2023

EU immigration

Why countries are jostling to attract migrant workers

Labour shortages and demographic pressures fuel competition for skilled people

Tuesday, 4 April, 2023

EU employment

How Spain has taken on the problem of precarious work

A country famous for temporary jobs is experimenting with new types of contract to boost permanent employment

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

Sarah O'Connor

Employment columnist

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