Retirement fund body EPFO has added 14.63 lakh net members in November 2024, a growth of 4.88 per cent over the same month last year, according to the latest payroll data.
The growth in net member additions signifies increased employment opportunities and heightened awareness of employee benefits, bolstered by EPFO's effective outreach initiatives, a labour ministry statement said.
On a monthly basis, net member additions rose by 9.07 per cent over October 2024, the ministry said.
The EPFO enrolled around 8.74 lakh new members in November 2024, up by 18.80 per cent over the year-ago month and a 16.58 per cent rise against October 2024, the provisional data showed.
The ministry said a noticeable aspect of the data is the dominance of the 18-25 age group, with 4.81 lakh new members added in this age group constituting a significant 54.97 per cent of the total new members added in November 2024.
Net member additions in the age group of 18-25 years are approximately 5.86 lakh for November 2024, reflecting an increase of 7.96 per cent compared to the previous month of October 2024.
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 ministry said.
The payroll data highlights that approximately 14.39 lakh members exited and subsequently rejoined EPFO.
This figure represents an 11.47 per cent increase compared to the previous month of October 2024. It also depicts a significant year-on-year growth of 34.75 per cent in November 2024.
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.
Gender-wise analysis of payroll data unveils that out of the new members added during the month, around 2.40 lakh new members are female, it said.
The comparison with the previous month of October 2024 shows an increase of 14.94 per cent.
This figure also exhibits significant year-on-year growth of 23.62 per cent during the month under review.
