EPFO, NPS data show India created 5.2 crore payrolls in last 4 years: SBI Ecowrap

State Bank of India’s (SBI) Economic Research Department’s report, SBI Ecowrap, shows that India created 5.2 crore payrolls during FY20 to FY23. Citing Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) and the National Pension System (NPS) data by the government, the report said that net new EPF subscriber addition during FY20 to FY23 was 4.86 crore.

"This number however consists of new payroll (first payroll), second payroll (rejoined/resubscribed members) and formalised payrolls. We subsequently estimated the net new payroll (first job/fresh job) adjusted for re-joined/re-subscribed members and formalization (based on ECR data). As per our calculation, the actual net new payroll was 2.27 crore during FY20 to FY23. The first job is 47 per cent of the total net new payroll," the report said.

The second job (or the exited members who re-joined and re-subscribed) stood at 2.17 crore during the four-year period ended FY23. Increase in formalisation was at 42 lakh in these years.

"If we see the Q1 EPFO payroll data of FY24, the trend is quite encouraging. Already 44 lakh net new EPF subscribers joined, of which first payroll were 19.2 lakh," the report further noted.

It stated that if the trend continues for the whole fiscal then in FY24, the net new payroll will cross the 160 lakh mark (highest-ever) with first payroll in the range of 70-80 lakh.

NPS data indicates that 8.24 lakh new subscribers in FY23, of which State Government payrolls of 4.64 lakh, followed by Non-Government of 2.30 lakh and 1.29 in central Government. In the last four years, around 31 lakh new subscribers joined in NPS.

Meanwhile, an interesting feature of the current EPFO data is the significant decline in revision of number of members who have rejoined or resubscribed in the first quarter of current financial year, the report stated. This would mean more people might be deciding to stick to their current employment. Additionally, the share of women payroll was around 27 per cent.

"To enable the increase of women in labour force, we recommend that Bank Sakhis hired under National Rural Livelihood Mission /NRLM may be considered for appointing as Banking Correspondents, as they are well versed with routine bank operations and possess mandated IIBF certification. Policy may also be framed to mandatorily recruit at least 30 per cent of the total workforce as women Banking Correspondents, particularly in locations where access and usage of the accounts by women is low. This will clearly bridge the gender gap," the report noted.