5.2 cr payrolls created in last 4 yrs; 47% first jobs

Total payrolls or jobs created under EPFO and NPS in the past four years stood at 5.2 crore during FY20 to FY23, and 47% of those were first jobs, SBI's latest Ecowrap report shows.

The data was analysed for the past four years since April 2018 when the government released monthly payroll data under (Employees State Insurance Corporation) EPFO (Employees' Provident Fund Organisation), NPS (National Pension System), and ESIC, following the recommendation of Ghosh & Ghosh study titled 'Towards a Payroll Reporting in India'.

"If we analyse the EPFO payroll data trends for the last four years, net new EPF subscriber addition during FY20 to FY23 was 4.86 crore," says Dr. Soumya Kanti Ghosh, group chief economic adviser, SBI.

This number, however, consists of new jobs (first payroll), second payroll (rejoined or resubscribed members), and formalised payrolls.

The net new payroll, meaning fresh jobs, adjusted for re-joined or re-subscribed members and formalisation based on ECR data shows it was 2.27 crore during FY20 to FY23, the report says, adding the first jobs stood at 47% of the total net new payroll.

The number of those who re-joined and re-subscribed stood at 2.17 crore in the four-year period ended FY23, while the increase in formalisation was 42 lakh in the said period.

On the Q1 EPFO payroll data for FY24, the trend seems quite encouraging, says the report. A total of 44 lakh net new EPF subscribers joined, of which the first payroll was 19.2 lakh. The report estimates that "if this trend continues for the whole fiscal, the net new payroll could cross the 160 lakh mark (highest-ever) in FY24, with the first payroll in the range of 70-80 lakh."

In the case of NPS data, 8.24 lakh new subscribers were added in FY23, of which state government payrolls stood at 4.64 lakh, followed by non-government jobs of 2.30 lakh and 1.29 in central government.

In the last 4-years, around 31 lakh new subscribers joined NPS, which means the total payroll generation under EPFO and NPS was over 5.2 crore from FY20 to FY23.

Interestingly, the current EPFO data shows a "significant decline" in the revision of the number of members who rejoined or resubscribed in the first quarter of the current financial year. "This would mean more people might be deciding to stick to their current employment. Additionally, the share of women payroll was around 27%," Ghosh says.

He has recommended "Bank Sakhis" should be hired under the National Rural Livelihood Mission to enable the increase of women in labour force.

"Such women should be considered for appointment as banking correspondents, as they are well versed with routine bank operations and possess mandated IIBF certification," Ghosh says, adding the policy may also be framed to mandatorily recruit at least 30% of the total workforce as women banking correspondents.