The Union Ministry of Labour and Employment on Saturday said the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has added 19.50 lakh net members in the month of May.

The addition during the month is the highest since the first payroll data was issued in April 2018, it said.

In a statement, the Ministry said, “The year-over-year analysis shows a growth of 19.62 per cent in net member additions compared to May 2023. This surge in membership can be attributed to numerous factors, including increased employment opportunities, a growing awareness of employee benefits, and the effectiveness of EPFO’s outreach programs.”

“The data indicates that around 9.85 lakh new members have enrolled during May. There is an increase of 10.96 per cent in the new members from the previous month of April and 11.5 per cent increase from May, 2023,” it said.

The Ministry said a noticeable aspect of the data is the dominance of the 18-25 age group, constituting a significant 58.37 per cent of the total new members added in May. This is in consonance with the earlier trend which indicates that most individuals joining the organised workforce are youth, primarily first-time job seekers.

In addition, the net payroll data for the age group 18-25 for May is the highest since the first payroll data was published, it said.

“The payroll data highlights that approximately 14.09 lakh members exited and subsequently re-joined EPFO. This figure depicts year-over-year growth of 23.47 per cent compared to May 2023. These members switched their jobs and re-joined the establishments covered under the ambit of 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,” it added.

The Minister said, “Gender-wise analysis of payroll data unveils that out of the new members added during the month, around 2.48 lakh are new female members. This figure exhibits year over year growth of 12.15 per cent compared to May 2023. Also, the net female member addition during the month stood at around 3.69 lakh reflecting year over year growth of 17.24 per cent compared to May 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 denotes that net member addition is highest in the five states/ UTs of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, and Haryana. These states constitute around 58.24 per cent of net member addition, adding a total of 11.36 lakh net members during the month. Of all the states, Maharashtra is leading by adding 18.87 per cent of net members during the month, it said.

“The above payroll data is provisional since the data generation is a continuous exercise, as updating employee record is a continuous process. The previous data gets updated every month. From the month of April-2018, EPFO has been releasing payroll data covering the period September 2017 onwards. In monthly payroll data, the count of members joining EPFO for the first time through Aadhaar validated Universal Account Number (UAN), existing members exiting from coverage of EPFO and those who exited but re-joined as members, is taken to arrive at net monthly payroll,” the Ministry said.