From Tokyo, Japan and New Plymouth, New Zealand – this is Down to Business English. With your hosts Skip Montreux and Samantha Vega.
I have to say Samantha, it is finally starting to feel like spring here in Tokyo.
Oh yeah?
Yeah The days are getting longer and after a fairly cool start to March, the temperature is finally warming up a bit.
It’s exactly the opposite here in New Zealand, Skip. While you are welcoming spring over there in Japan, we are ushering in autumn. It’s definitely colder out there and the rain is here!
Oh, well that’s terrible. It’s always interesting to me how you and I experience opposite seasons. While your days are getting shorter, we are getting more daylight.
And soon, we’ll be changing our clocks. Daylight Saving Time is ending here next weekend.
That’s right. At the moment you are four hours ahead of me. Once you move your clocks back an hour, there will only be a three hour difference. When did you say that happens?
On the first Sunday in April. April 6th this year.
Oh. Much much later than in Canada and the US.
That’s right. All my friends and family in North America make the change on the 2nd Sunday of March.
I wonder why that is, why New Zealand changes their clocks on a different day.
It has to do when the seasons change here. I’m not quite sure. In any case, New Zealand — for as small as it is — has two time zones. It’s all quite confusing to tell you the truth.
Daylight Saving Time is confusing! We go through all this clock chaos twice a year. Many people are asking if it’s worth it?
And it’s not just about having more or less daylight.
What do you mean?
Did you know that Daylight Saving Time can affect everything from power grids to productivity levels — even retail sales?
Hm. No, I didn’t. But now that you mention it, I’m not surprised.
That’s why I thought we should report on Daylight Saving Time today on Down to Business English.
Mm. That’s an excellent idea! A very timely topic — pun fully intended.
So, let’s do it. Let’s get D2B … Down to Business with Time Shift — The Economic Impact of Daylight Saving.
Let’s start with the basics. What is the origin of Daylight Saving Time?
Good question, Skip. Daylight Saving Time, or DST, was originally introduced as a way to make better use of natural daylight.
A simple idea.
Yes. By moving the clocks forward by one hour in the spring and back one hour in the fall, the goal was to give people more daylight in the evening — especially during the summer months.
I remember when I was living in Canada, in Saskatchewan, it wouldn’t get dark until 10 pm in the summer.
I know, it was similar in Vancouver. Those were great summer nights.
So basically, by changing the clocks, we are tricking ourselves into thinking the sun is in the sky longer.
Exactly! It’s a clever little hack.
And when did we start using Daylight Saving Time?
DST goes back more than a century — and it actually has some pretty serious origins.
What do you mean?
Germany and the UK adopted DST during World War I in an effort to conserve electricity. The logic was that if there was more daylight in the evening, people would use less artificial lighting.
In the era before LED lights and 24-hour cities, that makes a lot of sense.
These days however, the question is whether DST still makes economic sense. Some studies suggest that energy savings are negligible — or perhaps even non-existent.
Is that right?
In fact, in some regions, energy usage actually increases because people use more heating in the early mornings and more air conditioning in the longer evenings.
So we are turning off the lights but cranking up the air conditioning?
Mm. Pretty much. And it doesn’t stop there. According to economic researchers at Chmura Economics & Analytics, the time change in spring costs the U.S. economy over $US 430 million each year — mostly due to lost productivity, workplace accidents, and health-related issues.
$430 million?! That is a huge price tag for just moving the clock an hour.
It is. But some sectors do benefit.
For example?
For example, retailers often see a bump in business during DST because people are more likely to go out shopping or to a restaurant when it’s still light after work.
I imagine outdoor recreation businesses like golf courses also see gains.
Absolutely.
Sounds like the benefits really depend on what kind of business you’re in.
Health experts, however, are raising red flags. Sleep researchers argue that DST disrupts our circadian rhythm — our internal body clocks — and the spring-forward shift has been linked to higher rates of heart attacks, strokes, and traffic accidents.
Yikes. I always thought I just needed an extra cup of coffee after the time change. Now I’m thinking I might need a health check-up.
And workplaces see the effects too. Studies have shown that on the Monday after the spring clock change, productivity drops significantly, and workplace injuries spike.
It’s like jet lag — but without the vacation.
Now, all of this has led to growing political pressure to either abolish DST or make it permanent.
Where is this happening?
In the United States, there have been several proposals — the most well-known being the Sunshine Protection Act, which was first proposed in 2018 by US Senator Marco Rubio.
Isn’t he now Donald Trump’s Secretary of State?
Yes, he is now. But back in 2018 when he proposed the Sunshine Protection Act he was a Senator from Florida.
Mm. Florida — the Sunshine State!!
That is their moniker, yes. The Act proposed making DST permanent across the entire country. It passed in the Senate in 2022, but didn’t make it through the House of Representatives.
So it is not a law.
Not for the time being, but it still has serious backing. A revised bill was reintroduced in January this year, so it might become law in the not too distant future.
And what about in the European Union?
The EU voted to end mandatory clock changes back in 2019, but implementation has been delayed. And as for other countries like Japan, India, and China — they don’t observe DST at all.
So, there’s no global standard.
No there isn’t. The question now is — what happens next? Businesses operating across time zones face extra complexity twice a year. Scheduling meetings, flights, or software updates can be a logistical headache.
Hm. Tell me about it. I have missed more than one Zoom call because of DST confusion.
And in countries still debating DST — industries like transportation, logistics, and manufacturing have to stay on their toes when coordinating with partners in regions that don’t change their clocks.
Where do you stand on this issue Samantha?
Well, I mean I’ve lived in Japan too and I’ve lived without Daylight Savings and I’ve lived with Daylight Savings. For me, I’m all for making Daylight Saving Time a permanent thing. I like the extra sunlight. But I’m not a fan of switching back and forth twice a year. I really don’t think it’s good for our health.
As you said, in Japan we don’t change our clocks, so I would not be bothered if DST became a permanent international standard. And on a personal note, it would make recording with you and Dez a little easier as our meeting times would be consistent throughout the year.
That’s right. At the moment I’m 4 hours ahead of you, but after I push back the clock on the 6th of April, there will only be a 3 hour difference between us.
I will have to make a note of that so we don’t miss a recording session together.
Me too.
Well, whether countries keep changing the clocks or decide to stop, one thing is clear — the debate over Daylight Saving Time goes beyond just sunlight.
Exactly. It’s about health, economics, and how we organize our lives around time itself.
And on that note, I think it is time we get D2V … Down to Vocabulary. The first item on our D2V list today is the phrasal verb to usher something in. This means to signal the beginning of something new — especially something that is important or significant.
It comes from the noun usher — a person whose job is to lead people to their seats, like in a movie theatre or at a wedding. So, to usher something in is like leading or introducing something to the world.
In today’s episode, Samantha said New Zealand was ushering in autumn — meaning that autumn is just beginning in that country.
Exactly. We often use usher in when talking about major changes or transitions. Things like seasons, governments, or even business trends.
Can you give us a business-related example?
Sure. The mass production of electric vehicles has ushered in a new era for the auto industry.
Good example. What’s next on our D2V list?
The next item is the noun hack.
Oh yes — this word has several different meanings.
It does. In modern, everyday English, a hack usually refers to a smart solution to a problem, or a shortcut that makes something easier to do, or more efficient.
And that is how it was used in today’s episode.
Yes. At one point in my report, I described Daylight Saving Time as a clever little hack.
Samantha was saying that DST was a smart solution to making more use of daylight hours in our lives.
But ‘a hack’ can also have a negative meaning. If someone is called ‘a hack’, it means they’re unprofessional or not very skilled.
That’s right, especially in creative jobs like being a writer or a musician, or some type of artist.
Like a writer who just churns out low-quality work without much care could be called a hack.
But these days, when people say ‘a hack’, they’re usually talking about life hacks, tech hacks, or productivity hacks — in other words, simple ways to save time or effort.
Can you give us a business-related example using ‘hack’ in one of these ways?
I sure can. In my job, I typically need to write 10 to 20 emails a day. To save time, I use email templates. Starting a document from a template is a great productivity hack.
Hm. That’s a perfect example.
Our final item for D2V today is the adjective negligible. If something is described as negligible, it means it is so small or unimportant that it’s not even worth considering.
We use negligible when something is technically there, but it has almost no effect.
In today’s episode, Samantha told us that some studies on the benefits of Daylight Saving Time suggest that the energy savings that come from using DST are negligible.
I was saying that the savings were so small that they didn't really matter.
Negligible is often used in business or science when we want to emphasize that something is statistically or practically unimportant. Samantha, can you give us a business-related example?
Sure. Imagine that your company changes suppliers and after switching your boss asks you for your opinion on the new supplier. You could answer by saying that you have noticed only a negligible difference in material quality.
Meaning the difference in quality between the old and the new supplier, it’s not zero — but it’s close enough that you almost don’t notice.
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Thanks for that report, Samantha. I never realized how far-reaching the effects of Daylight Saving Time are — or how much of a debate there is around it.
It’s definitely a topic that is more complex than it first appears. Whether countries keep it or do away with it, the impact on business, health, and daily life is very real.
D2B Members and Apple Podcast Subscribers — your bonus Down to Vocabulary episode for today’s report will be dropping very shortly. In that bonus D2V episode, we will be looking at five more useful expressions from today’s report.
Those words are to crank up, to see a bump in something, to raise a red flag, a moniker, and to stay on one’s toes.
So be sure to look for that in your feed. D2B Members, don’t forget to copy and paste your member-only RSS feed link from your account page on the D2B website into the podcast app you use.
And Apple Podcast Subscribers — no need to do anything. The bonus episode will show up in your Apple Podcast app automatically.
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Take care.
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