New Delhi, April 21 (H.S.): The Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO), which manages retirement funds, added a total of 1.610 million new members in February. This is an increase of 3.99 percent compared to the same month last year. The majority of the new members added in February 2025 belong to the age group of 18-25 years, with their share being 427,000, or 57.71 percent. This indicates that most individuals joining the organized workforce are young.

The Ministry of Labor and Employment reported on Monday that the EPFO added a total of 1.610 million new members in February. The EPFO created about 739,000 new members in February 2025, while year-on-year analysis shows an increase of 3.99 percent in payroll compared to February 2024. Additionally, there was an increase of approximately 678,000 members in the 18-25 age group, which is an annual increase of 3.01 percent. The data shows that around 1.318 million members changed their jobs and rejoined establishments covered under the EPFO.

The data indicates that about 208,000 female members joined the EPFO for the first time in February 2025, reflecting an annual increase of 1.26 percent. Furthermore, the total female payroll growth during February was approximately 337,000, which represents a year-on-year increase of 9.23 percent compared to February 2024. The growth in the number of female members signals a significant shift towards a more inclusive and diverse workforce.

State-wise analysis of the data reveals that the top five states/union territories contributed to about 59.75 percent of the total payroll, adding approximately 962,000 net payroll during the month. Among all states, Maharashtra is leading with a contribution of 20.90 percent to the total payroll growth in February. States/union territories like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat, Haryana, Delhi, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh recorded more than 5 percent growth in total payroll during February.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar