New Delhi: Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Haryana and Delhi have added more than 9.5 lakh formal jobs in February this year, which is more than two-thirds of total EPFO subscribers added in the country in the month, showed the latest official data. While the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) added more than 14.12 lakh, new subscribers, in February, more than two-thirds (9.52 lakh) subscribers were added from those states.
The provisional payroll data of EPFO released on Wednesday highlights that the pension fund manager added 14.12 lakh net subscribers in February this year. The month-on-month comparison of payroll data reflects a slight increase of 31,826 net subscriber addition in February this year as against the previous month of January. According to officials, the year-on-year comparison shows an increase of 1,74,314 net additions during February this year as compared to the net subscriber addition in the corresponding month of 2021. According to the Ministry of Labour and Employment, there is a consistent increase in the net subscriber addition since October 2021.
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Out of the total 14.12 lakh, net subscribers added during the month, around 8.41 lakh new members have been enrolled under the social security cover of EPF & MP Act, 1952 for the first time. Approximately 5.71 lakh net subscribers exited but re-joined EPFO by transferring their accumulations from the previous PF accounts to the current PF accounts, instead of claiming for final withdrawal. Age-wise comparison of payroll data indicates that the age group of 22-25 years has been on the forefront by registering the highest number of net enrolments of 3.7 lakh new subscribers in February. This age group is followed by the age group of 29-35 years with an addition of 2.98 lakh net subscribers during the month. Subscribers in the age group of 18-25 years constitute around 45% of total net enrolments during the month. Officials said this age group indicates that many first-time job seekers are joining the organised sector workforce in large numbers.
Jobs in engineering, auto and construction sectors
Industry-wise payroll data indicates that mainly two categories such as ‘expert services’ (consisting of manpower agencies, private security agencies and small contractors) and trading-commercial establishments constitute over 47% of total subscriber addition in February. Sectors like engineering contractors, automobile servicing, building and construction and industry sectors reported increased hiring in February this year.
Poor participation in the female workforce
Gender-wise analysis indicates that net female payroll addition during the month is around 3.10 lakh with a share of female enrolment at around 22%. It registered an increase of 22,402 net enrolments of female workers over the enrolments during January 2022. “This is largely due to lower female exits and higher new joining during the month. Also, net female subscribers have consistently increased since October 2021 indicating increasing participation of women in the workforce,” said the government.
