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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 X.com (link opens in a new browser window)
  • Tuesday, 5 May, 2026
    Employment
    Welcome to the Great Hunkering Down

    Why aren’t more people quitting their jobs?

    Sarah O'Connor
    A man sitting at a desk in front of a computer, head bowed and resting on his hand, appearing stressed or fatigued.
  • Thursday, 30 April, 2026
    The AI Shift
    Is AI increasing access to justice?

    A steep increase in ‘vibe litigation’ appears to be expanding the market for legal activity

    Premium content
    An illustration showing a judge’s gavel with a robot’s head as part of the hammer, symbolizing AI in justice.
  • Thursday, 23 April, 2026
    Artificial intelligence
    Ask an Expert. What does AI really mean for your work? You asked, we answered

    Sarah O’Connor, John Burn Murdoch and Madhumita Murgia replied to reader questions

  • Thursday, 23 April, 2026
    The AI Shift
    Will AI widen inequality between workers?

    This and more findings from our new poll of AI usage by thousands of US and UK workers

    Premium content
    An illustration of a human head silhouette filled with bubbles, containing a colorful pie chart and bar charts to represent data in a high-tech, AI-themed style.
  • Tuesday, 21 April, 2026
    Social affairs
    Will social media addiction go the way of cigarettes?

    Smoking among the rich has declined dramatically — and digital dependency could follow a similar pattern

    Sarah O'Connor
    Large illuminated Camel cigarettes billboard at night in Times Square, featuring a sailor blowing smoke, above shops and neon signs.
  • Thursday, 16 April, 2026
    The AI Shift
    How (un)reliable are AI agents?

    Consistency matters more than average accuracy in safety-critical domains

    Premium content
  • Tuesday, 14 April, 2026
    Corporate culture
    Why ‘glue work’ can finally shine in the age of AI

    Automating technical skills will transform the value of those who can build relationships and hold projects together

    Sarah O'Connor
    Several people stand in small groups, talking and networking in a modern convention centre with large windows
  • Thursday, 2 April, 2026
    The AI Shift
    Will AI make it harder for non-graduates to climb the jobs ladder?

    Gateway roles to white-collar work appear particularly exposed to disruption

    Premium content
    An illustration showing robotic arms dismantling steps on a purple ladder, turning them into colorful digital pixels.
  • Tuesday, 31 March, 2026
    Employment
    Why do politicians want AI to go faster?

    Bullish rhetoric about ‘unleashing’ the technology is badly out of touch with the sensibilities of many voters

    Sarah O'Connor
    Sam Altman speaks at a podium with the presidential seal as Donald Trump stands nearby with his hands clasped.
  • Thursday, 26 March, 2026
    The AI Shift
    Will software engineers survive agentic AI?

    A data deep dive shows that job vacancies are rising — but only for senior developers

    Premium content
    A pixel-art drawing of a surfer on a wave
  • Tuesday, 24 March, 2026
    Employment
    The secret to Ukraine’s remarkably resilient labour market

    Flexibility, financial support and remote work have offset some of the economic upheaval of war

    Sarah O'Connor
    Two farm workers harvest watermelons, passing them from the field into a truck filled with melons on a large farm.
  • Thursday, 19 March, 2026
    The AI Shift
    The ‘great sucking sound’ of AI brain drain

    An explosion in industry salaries has resulted in top talent leaving the public sector

    Premium content
  • Tuesday, 17 March, 2026
    Artificial intelligence
    Why it’s hard for humans to have the final say over AI

    We need to learn from the mistakes we have made in the past

    Sarah O'Connor
    A person sits in the front passenger seat of a Tesla Robotaxi with hands off the wheel as the car drives itself in traffic.
  • Thursday, 12 March, 2026
    The AI Shift
    What that viral Anthropic jobs chart really means

    Unpicking a much-discussed plot

    Premium content
    An illustration showing a basketball-like globe with data charts, spinning on a pixelated cursor finger, against a digital grid background.
  • Tuesday, 10 March, 2026
    Employment
    Britain’s safety net isn’t set up for a widespread jobs shock

    The state does not offer a temporary cushion to support those who were previously in work

    Sarah O'Connor
    A Jobcentre Plus in Westferry in London
  • Thursday, 5 March, 2026
    The AI Shift
    Is AI an existential threat to India’s outsourcing industry?

    Agentic tools are coming for the repetitive work that was once their bread and butter

    Premium content
    Silhouettes of robotic arms and IT workers form tiger stripes on an orange background, symbolizing automation impacting tech jobs.
  • Thursday, 26 February, 2026
    The AI Shift
    Do we really know which jobs are most at risk from AI?

    How technology changes the world of work is not just a technical question — and never has been

    Premium content
    An illustration showing people of different professions, including a doctor and a businessperson, being pulled into a swirling tunnel with a robotic AI face at its center.
  • Thursday, 19 February, 2026
    The AI Shift
    Is AI making work more intense?

    Using agents appears to increase the number of hours worked and the exhausting nature of tasks

    Premium content
    An illustrated image of an eye with a running figure overlaid
  • Tuesday, 17 February, 2026
    Employment
    We have to stop calling some jobs ‘low skilled’

    Freeing ourselves of these labels might help young people to think more creatively about the future

    Sarah O'Connor
    A woman works at a computer with code and network diagrams on multiple monitors in a data centre, surrounded by colleagues.
  • Thursday, 12 February, 2026
    The AI Shift
    What has AI done to illustrators?

    Disruption has led some to pull back while others are changing the type of work they produce

    Premium content
  • Tuesday, 10 February, 2026
    Artificial intelligence
    Is this the way the world ends?

    Romantic relationships with AI models will not heal the disconnect between young men and women

    Sarah O'Connor
    Montage image of a speech bubble containing a heart made out of pixels
  • Thursday, 5 February, 2026
    The AI Shift
    Is this the ‘take off’ moment for AI agents?

    Signals in large-scale data are finally converging with anecdotes of productivity gains

    Premium content
    A laptop with coloured squares overlaying it and a colourful backdrop
  • Tuesday, 3 February, 2026
    UK immigration
    No, the public is not irredeemably ignorant

    But there is a disconnect between economists’ metrics and people’s perceptions

    Sarah O'Connor
    An illustration showing a figure in a suit with a head made up of many small faces, holding a phone displaying a face with an open mouth.
  • Thursday, 29 January, 2026
    The AI Shift
    Could AI make — rather than take — jobs?

    Public attention is focused on possible AI job losses, but history tells us that new tech usually generates jobs too

    Premium content
    Illustration of a robot hand holding a tray with a work desk and a chair on it
  • Thursday, 22 January, 2026
    The AI Shift
    What millions of job ads reveal about AI displacement

    A close inspection suggests all is not what it seems

    Premium content
    A man holding a child, standing on a cracked green surface
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