15.3 lakh individuals joined EPFO in October: Labour ministry

Payroll data is provisional since the data generation is a continuous exercise.

The data released by the Ministry of Labour showed that around 7.72 lakh new members have come under the social security coverage of EPFO during the month.

Among these newly joined members, the age group of 18-25 years constitutes 58.60 per cent of total new members added during the month.

"This shows that majority of the members joining organised sector workforce are mostly first-time job seekers in this age group," the labour ministry said in a release.

Payroll data also demonstrates that approximately 11.10 lakh members exited but rejoined EPFO.

"These members have switched their jobs and re-joined the establishments covered under EPFO and opted to transfer their accumulations instead of applying for final settlement thus, extending their social security protection with EPFO."

Further, a declining trend in number of exits has been observed for the last four months. In absolute terms, number of members exiting EPFO for October 2023 is the lowest in the last 12 months, the ministry noted.

Around 2.04 lakh new joinees were female. Also, the net female member addition during the month stood at around 3.03 lakh which is around 15 per cent higher compared with the corresponding month of the previous year.

State-wise analysis of payroll data denotes that net member addition is highest in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Karnataka, and Haryana. These states constitute around 58.92 per cent of net member addition, adding a total of 9.01 lakh members during the month. Of all the states, Maharashtra is leading by adding 22.04 per cent of net members during the month.

Month-on-month comparison of industry-wise data displays significant growth in the members working in establishments engaged in the hotel industry, tea establishments, trading and commercial establishments, heavy-fine chemicals, companies offering life insurance, and annuities.

Of the total net membership, around 40.27 per cent addition is from expert services (consisting of manpower suppliers, normal contractors, security services, and miscellaneous activities). (ANI)