The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) added around 9.30 lakh new members in August 2024, representing a 0.48% increase in new members compared to August 2023.

According to the provisional payroll data released by the organisation, the EPFO enrolled 18.53 lakh net members in August 2024, reflecting a 9.07% year-on-year growth compared to August 2023.

This signifies increased employment opportunities and heightened awareness of employee benefits, bolstered by EPFO’s effective outreach initiatives.

A noticeable aspect of the data is the dominance of the 18-25 age group, constituting a significant 59.26% of the total new members added in August 2024.

The net payroll data for the age group 18-25 for August 2024 is 8.06 lakhs.

This is in consonance with the earlier trend which indicates that most individuals joining the organised workforce are youth, primarily first-time job seekers, the EPFO said.

The payroll data highlights that approximately 13.54 lakh members exited and subsequently rejoined the EPFO. This figure depicts year-over-year growth of 14.03% compared to August 2023.

These members switched their jobs and rejoined the establishments covered under the ambit of the EPFO and opted to transfer their accumulations instead of applying for final settlement, thus safeguarding long-term financial well-being and extending their social security protection, as per the shared data.

Gender-wise analysis of payroll data unveils that out of the new members added during the month, around 2.53 lakhs are new female members. This figure exhibits year-over-year growth of 3.75% compared to August 2023.

Also, the net female member addition during the month stood at around 3.79 lakh. It reflects a year-over-year growth of 10.41% compared to August 2023. The surge in female member additions is indicative of a broader shift towards a more inclusive and diverse workforce.

State-wise analysis of payroll data indicates that net member addition in the top five states/UTs accounts for around 59.17% of the total, with around 10.97 lakh net members added during the month.

Maharashtra leads all states by adding 20.59% of net members during the month. The states/UTs of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Delhi, Gujarat, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh each contributed more than 5% of the total net members during the month.