Net formal jobs under EPFO down to five-month low of 1.34 million in October

Net formal job creation under the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) fell to a five-month low of 1.34 million in October, a year-on-year dip of 11.8% compared to 1.52 million in October 2023 shows government data.

As per the provisional EPFO payroll data, released by the ministry of labour and employment on Wednesday, the retirement fund body witnessed a month-on-month decline of 28.7% compared to 1.88 million in September 2024, despite October being the festive month when hiring is expected to be up.

Net new subscribers added to EPFO stood at 1.28 million in April, 1.35 million in May, 1.39 million in June, 1.61 million in July and 1.58 million in August this year.


As per the data, around 0.75 million new members enrolled during October 2024, a decline of 2.59% compared to October 2023. “This addition in new memberships can be attributed to growing employment opportunities, increased awareness of employee benefits, and EPFO’s successful outreach programs.,” the ministry said in a statement.

Further, 40.5% of the net new members or 0.54 million added in October 2024 were in the 18-25 age group. “This is in consonance with the earlier trend which indicates that most individuals joining the organized workforce are youth, primarily first-time job seekers,” it said.

The payroll data highlights that approximately 1.29 million members exited and subsequently rejoined EPFO, a year-over-year growth of 16.2% compared to 1.11 million in October 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 said.

As per the data, 0.27 million net female members were added to EPFO in October while 0.21 million new female members were added in the month under consideration.

“The increase in female member additions is indicative of a broader shift towards a more inclusive and diverse workforce,” the ministry said.

Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Haryana, Telangana and Gujarat added 0.82 million net members, accounting for 61.3% of the total net member additions in October 2024 with Maharashtra alone contributing 22.1% of the total net members.

As per the ministry, month-on-month comparison of industry-wise data displays significant growth in the members working in establishments engaged in the industries like road motor transport, electronic media companies in private sector, banks including nationalised banks.

Of the total net membership, around 42.3% addition is from expert services (consisting of manpower suppliers, normal contractors, security services, miscellaneous activities etc.), it said.

The above payroll data is provisional since the data generation is a continuous exercise, as updating employee records is a continuous process.

EPFO has been releasing payroll data from the month of April-2018, 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.