Around 10.58 lakh new members came under the social security cover of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) for the first time in July. This is approximately at the same level as June, when 10.54 lakh new workers joined EPFO for the first time.

“The data of new members joining EPFO has shown a growing trend since April,” said a statement by the Ministry of Labour and Employment on Tuesday.

In May this year, 9.6 lakh first-time members had joined EPFO, while, in April, 9.23 lakh new members had joined.

Provisional payroll data of EPFO released on Tuesday revealed that of the 10.58 lakh new members added, approximately 57.69 per cent are in the age group of 18 to 25 years.

“This shows that first-time job seekers are joining organised sector workforce in large numbers following their education, and new jobs in the organised sector are largely going to the youth of the country,” the Ministry added.

According to the data, the EPFO added 18.23 lakh net members in July, which is 24.48 per cent higher than July 2021.

Around 4.07 lakh members exited from the ambit of EPFO and 11.72 lakh members exited and rejoined EPFO in July, the data showed.

“These members have chosen to retain their membership through transfer of funds rather than opting for final settlement,” said the Ministry, adding that this may be attributed to various e-initiatives taken by EPFO for seamless and uninterrupted service delivery.

Female workforce leads

Gender-wise analysis of payroll data indicates that 4.06 lakh net female members were enrolled in July, registering a 34.84 per cent growth year on year.

Significantly, among the total new members that joined EPFO during the month, enrollment of female workforce was recorded as 27.54 per cent — a 12-month high.

“This indicates that female participation is rising in the organised workforce with respect to new members joining EPFO,” said the Ministry.

Industry-wise payroll data indicates that mainly two categories — ‘expert services’, consisting of manpower agencies, private security agencies and small contractors — and ‘trading-commercial establishments’ constitute 46.20 per cent of the total members added in July.

In contrast to industry wise data for June, higher enrollments were recorded in industries, including schools, building and construction industry and financing establishment.

State-wise payroll figures revealed that month-on-month growth in net member addition was observed in Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. In July, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Gujarat and Delhi continued to lead and added about 12.46 lakh net members, which was 68.36 per cent of the total net payroll addition across all age groups.

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