FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Reduced workloads faced by some employees may make them save up excessively out of fear of losing their jobs, a European Central Bank study argued on Thursday, hoping to answer a key economic puzzle that has wrong-footed policymakers for the past year.

With employment breaking record highs, the ECB has long expected consumption to take off and drive growth, only to be disappointed quarter after quarter as the economy remains broadly stagnant.

A fresh blog post from the ECB now suggests that a large chunk of workers have seen a significant dip in their workload and they are responding by pushing up saving and curbing consumption, fearing that their job could be gone soon.

“To put it simply, during a downturn those who have less on their plate have more on their mind,” the ECB said in a blog post. “In an economy with weak growth yet a robust job market, labour hoarding and related low labour utilisation may drag on consumption.”

The ECB said that its Consumer Expectations Survey shows 10% of workers reporting lower-than-usual workload with construction and industry disproportionately affected.

“Workers who report lower workloads feel more at risk of losing their jobs within the next three months,” the ECB said.

These workers also expect lower pay increases and will also adjust spending accordingly.

“Workers expect a currently low workload to impact their future earnings, even if their jobs aren’t at risk,” the blog argued. “Apparently, they are also factoring in lower productivity and weakened bargaining power.”

(Reporting by Balazs Koranyi; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)