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Mark your calendars: It’s almost time to set your clocks ahead one hour as we “spring forward” into Daylight Saving Time this Sunday, March 9, at 2 a.m. Tired of changing your clocks? You’re not alone. Both President Donald Trump and senior adviser Elon Musk have said they want to end the annoying seasonal time changes, by making Daylight Saving Time (DST) permanent (meaning that after setting our clocks forward, we would not set them backward anymore). That’s in line with a 2023 YouGov poll that found nearly two-thirds (62%) of Americans want to end the practice, though only half prefer to keep DST permanent versus keeping Standard Time permanent (meaning we would not set our clocks forward anymore). As president, Trump previously indicated support for such a change, tweeting in 2019, Making Daylight Saving Time permanent is O.K. with me! He seemed to reiterate his stance in December, posting to Truth Social that once he was in office, “The Republican Party will use its best efforts to eliminate” the time changes, which he called “inconvenient, and very costly to our Nation.” (Note: It’s not clear exactly what Trump’s stance was, as he wrote about eliminating “Daylight Saving Time,” not the time changes specifically. However, given his previous stance, many have interpreted it to mean eliminating the time changes.) On X, Musk posted a similar rallying cry, saying people want to “abolish the annoying time changes!” So far, the Trump administration hasn’t moved forward on the issue. However, health experts say Trump and Musk, as well as lawmakers who support making DST permanent, have it backward. Instead, they argue, Standard Time should be made permanent. Here, we break down some arguments for sticking with Daylight Saving Time versus Standard Time permanently. Health experts say stick with Standard Time The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) also wants to do away with the time change, but supports replacing Daylight Saving Time with permanent Standard Time because it best aligns with the sun and our natural circadian rhythms. By causing the human body clock to be misaligned with the natural environment, Daylight Saving Time increases risks to our physical health, mental well-being, and public safety, said Dr. Muhammed Adeel Rishi, lead author of the academy’s position statement, published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine. Permanent standard time is the optimal choice for health and safety. Research backs that up, saying the one-hour change disrupts the body’s natural sleep-wake cycle, which regulates body temperature, hormone release, and alertness. That could explain why Daylight Saving Time transitions lead to a spike in traffic accidents. Sticking with Daylight Saving Time may make people happier In the 2023 YouGov poll, those in favor of making DST permanent said they preferred later sunrises and sunsets, giving them more daylight at the end of the day. The most compelling reason to make Daylight Saving Time permanent is that it seems to make people happier, with research showing seasonal increases in sun time were associated with decreased mental health distress. Where does Congress stand on the issue? Daylight Saving Time was originally adopted as a wartime measure in 1942 intended to maximize daylight hours in the summer, and has long been unpopular with lawmakers who tried to make the time change permanent with the now-stalled 2023 Sunshine Protection Act. The bipartisan bill, sponsored by then-Florida Senator Marco Rubio, now Secretary of State, passed unanimously in the Senate but failed to pass in the U.S. House of Representatives because lawmakers could not agree on whether to keep Standard Time or Daylight Saving Time. Do all states observe Daylight Saving Time? While Americans in most U.S. states change their clocks, Hawaii and Arizona are two exceptions, with both keeping to Standard Time. When is the Daylight Saving time change in 2025? Daylight Saving Time in the U.S. begins this Sunday, March 9 at 2 a.m. local time, meaning people will lose an hour of sleep but gain an hour of sunlight. It always starts on the second Sunday in March, and ends on the first Sunday in November. This contrasts with the U.K. and European Union, where it begins on the last Sunday in March (Sunday, March 30 at 1 a.m.) and ends on the last Sunday in October (Sunday, October 26 at 1 a.m).
Category:
E-Commerce
Macys announced in its fourth-quarter and fiscal-year 2024 earnings report on Thursday that it expects another year of declining sales as the department store chain continues reshaping its footprint to focus on better-performing locations. The retailer projected fiscal 2025 sales between $21 billion and $21.4 billion, down from $22.3 billion last yearclosely aligning with analyst expectations of $21.34 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal. Macys net sales in the latest quarter fell 4.3% to $7.8 billion. Across the companys brandsMacys, Bloomingdales, and Bluemercurycomparable sales in the fourth quarter declined 1.1%. However, in owned and licensed businesses as well as its online marketplace, comparable sales inched up 0.2%, the highest increase since early 2022. For the full year, comparable sales were expected to decline between 0.5% and 2% year-over-year, with adjusted earnings projected between $2.05 and $2.25 per share. Analysts polled by FactSet had anticipated slight comparable sales growth and earnings of $2.29 per share, the Wall Street Journal reported. Closing stores, selling assets Despite the mixed results, Macys said it saw progress with its Bold New Chapter strategy. The company previously announced plans to shutter 150 stores by the end of fiscal 2026 (January 31, 2027), leaving it with 350 locations. These remaining stores are Macys go-forward locations, in which the retailer said it would be prioritizing investment. As part of this plan, Macy’s said it closed 64 stores in fiscal 2024, which it described as “non-go-forward” locations. The closures helped Macy’s bring in more money from real estate. For fiscal 2024, Macys made $144 million in “asset sale gains,” more than double the figure from last year, when asset sale gains were $61 million. The company noted in the earnings report that removing non-go-forward Macys locations contributed to current year asset sale gains. Additionally, Macy’s delivered an update on its First 50 locations strategy. As outlined in a company earnings presentation, the strategy involved selecting the top 50 performing stores across its network to implement new retail initiatives. Its goal was to improve staffing, product displays, and customer experience enhancements. So far, these stores have performed better than the bulk of the chain. Macys First 50 locations delivered a fourth consecutive quarter of comparable sales growth, up 0.8% on an owned basis and up 1.2% on an owned-plus-licensed basis, the company said. As we enter the second year of our strategy, we plan to scale initiatives that are resonating with our customers to drive long-term profitable growth and further unlock shareholder value, said Tony Spring in Thursday’s earnings report. Macy’s stock (NYSE: M) was flat at about $13.28 in midday trading.
Category:
E-Commerce
The trade association representing Americas largest gig companies is backing President Trumps nominees to lead the Department of Laboran endorsement that could shape the future of worker classification in the gig economy. Flex, the lobbying group founded in 2022 by names including Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash, said Wednesday its in favor of Lori Chavez-DeRemer to lead the department and for Keith Sonderling to serve as deputy secretary. The Department of Labor has a key role in helping build a future-forward, modern economy, Flex CEO Kristin Sharp said in a press release. That includes supporting app-based independent work, which benefits millions of earners, consumers, and communities . . . Once confirmed, we look forward to working with these leaders to advance policies that continue the innovation and economic opportunities of the app-based platform industry. Spokespeople for Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash did not respond to Fast Company‘s requests for comment on the nominations and Flex’s support. Instacart pointed to the Flex statement. Gig companies, at their core, rely on models that classify the workers who ferry people and goods at the click of a button as independent contractors rather than traditional employees. This allows them to keep costs low and aids them in their missions to turn profits, ultimately pleasing shareholders. If gig companies were forced to classify their workers as employees, labor costs would dramatically rise. A Trump-led Labor Department could also roll back workplace protections on wages, overtime, and collective bargaining rights. Policies around independent contractors often intersect with broader labor issues, such as whether gig workers qualify for benefits like health insurance or minimum wage protectionskey points of contention between businesses and labor advocates. Still, certain lawmakers and advocacy groups are arguing that this new way of work deserves to have the same protections and classifications as full-time employees. Most of the efforts so far have fallen to cities and local governments. But the Trump administration’s picks could take a federal stance to update what it means to classify independent contractors. A more business-friendly stance at the federal level could embolden gig companies in ongoing legal battles and policy debates across states. “It’s almost highly likely that the Trump DoL will make it easier for companies to classify (many would say, ‘misclassify’) gig workers as independent contractors, and far harder for gig workers to get employee status,” John Logan, director of labor and employment studies at San Francisco State University, says in an email to Fast Company. “Of course, the Labor Department is only one player here, albeit an important one: the ‘pro-business’ position of the Labor Department will also be used by platform companies in ongoing litigation at the state level and unions and companies will continue to fight this out in the courts and through state politics.” Chavez-DeRemer, who served one term as congresswoman in Ohio, was widely seen as a pro-worker pick. During her time in office, she seemed to support the PRO (Protecting the Right to Organize) Act, which was extremely important to labor unions and could alter independent contractor classifications, and was endorsed by the Teamsters Union. However, Chavez-DeRemer appeared to have reassured Republicans during a Republican-led Senate committee confirmation hearing last month. She told members she was in full support of Trump’s agenda and walked back support of the PRO Act. “If confirmed, my job will be to implement President Trumps policy division, and my guiding principle will be President Trumps guiding principle,” she said. Sonderling’s position as deputy secretary, meantime, “is intended to reassure members of the business community, and groups that are hostile to organized labor,” Logan says. Sonderling served under Trump in the Department of Labor in the past and as a Republican commissioner on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. In 2019, Sonderling issued an opinion letter that essentially said an unidentified company, whose workers appeared to clean residences, were contractors, not employees. Many argued that the move signaled the Trump administration’s broader approach to gig companies. “On the issue of gig workers, unions have consistently argued that workers should be classify as employees and not independent contractors; that they should be covered by the NLRA and other federal labor and employment laws and have the right to unionize and bargain collectively,” Logan says. “I do not expect they will have much joy on this issue under the Trump administration, even with Chavez-DeRemer as Labor Secretary.”
Category:
E-Commerce
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