Unless you've got an employer that's enforcing very specific hours, what's the difference? It you'd rather get up earlier, work earlier, and leave when it's still light, what's stopping you?
The number that we assign to a time of day doesn't have any intrinsic meaning, it's just a symbol.
I think you're underestimating the number of people who have what you consider "very specific work hours".
Of my friends, I think I'm one of the only ones who gets to dictate what time I go into and leave from work. I think it's fairly unique to the tech industry, this ability.
It is indeed just a symbol, time, but the symbol is given meaning by most people's employers, and as such ends up carrying significant meaning in a person's own life as well.
Among other things, children. Sure, I might be able to get up earlier, work earlier and leave when it's still light, but I still wouldn't have much time to spend with my kid during daytime.
Another example: bus frequency. You know, small stuff that adds up ;)
If shifting the timezone by an hour is a solution, then so is just shifting work hours by an hour. How do children change anything?
There may be other, poor, reasons, that it sucks for you (like other people insisting on going by a certain clock time) but I don't understand the children part.
the point is that business and school hours can be (and are) different in different countries. You can either change the timetables or the clock. To change the former requires more coordination throughout the society, hence we move the clock.
School hours, public transit hours, business open hours (banks, law-mandated bar closing times, etc.), friends who work at enforced hours (most people, in my experience).
Mainly because it's easier to get one government to shift their hours and thus the hours of everyone, businesses, government services, etc. at the same time, rather than relying on everyone to make a local distinction.
Though sometimes (like in Western China, where time is really off), businesses run on a 'de facto' local time zone (10-7 Beijing) rather than say 8-5 Beijing time
Similarly, the overall preference seems to be to shift things to a later time rather than earlier
There are lots of things that get run on a time of day basis that can't be controlled. I work for myself from home, so I can do whatever I want, but my wife is a teacher. They have a very set schedule as it happens.
Most employers that I know, while being somewhat flexible, still require being in the office for certain hours of the day, 10-3 seems to be popular in my area. If you want to work the rest of the hours early or late you can. Any way you look at it when it gets dark at 4 that doesn't leave much time for most people.
Always going to be less daylight in the winter, but I think the argument for moving the daylight later in the day is an easy one.
The number that we assign to a time of day doesn't have any intrinsic meaning, it's just a symbol.