A、To combat competition and raise productivity. B、To provide them with more job opportunities. C、To help them maintain their liv

Americans suffer from an overdose of work. Regardless of who they are or what they do. Americans spend more time at work than that any time since World War II. In 1950, the US had fewer working hours than any other industrialized country.
    Today, it exceeds every country but Japan where industrialized employees load 2155 hours a year compared with 1951 in the US and 1603 in the former West Germany. Between 1969 and 1989, employed Americans add an average of 138 hours to their yearly work schedules. The workweek has remained above 40 hours. But people are working more weeks each year. Specifically pay time off holidays, vacations, sick leave shrank by 50% in the 1980s.
    As corporations have experienced stiff (艰难的, 严酷的) competitions and slow in growth of productivity, they have pressed employees to work longer. Cost-cutting lay-offs in the 1980s reduce the professional and managerial runs, leaving fewer people to get the job done. In lower paid occupations where wages have been reduced, workers have added hours in overtime or extra jobs to preserve their living standards. The government estimates that more than 7 million people hold a second job.
    For the first time, large numbers of people say they want to cut back(削减,减少) on working hours even it means earning less money. But most employers are unwilling to let them do so. The government which has stepped back from its traditional role as a regulator of work time should take steps to make shorter hours possible.