MANISH GUPTA
Ranchi, Sept 28: About 3.2 million workers in the country have lost their job in the last four years and four months since fiscal 2018-19, as per the payroll data from retirement fund body Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) released last week.
The overall figures across all age groups and even within the same age group can be misleading as the averages hide the fact that most of the jobs are not going to people above 35 years, which can be considered as the middle age of a worker’s lifespan.
Looking at the labour ministry data for people above 35 years, 11.8 million people lost their job between April 2018 and July 2022. However, 8.6 million workers rejoined and re-subscribed leaving a net 3.2 million people who could not get back to work.
This obviously excludes the first time EPF subscribers above 35 years of age as these are a different set of individuals and it is surely a positive development for them to enter the formal job sector. But those 3.2 million already-existing EPF subscribers are out of the system, probably jobless or working in the unorganised sector.
Now look at the net payroll data for the period. Even if one takes 14 years as the starting age of a worker, 35 can be conservatively considered as the middle age of a person’s working life. So, half the jobs may be expected to go to those above 35 years.
However, the data reveals that out of the total net payroll addition in fiscal 2018-19, only 9.1% jobs went to those above 35 years. It was 12.2% in fiscal 2019-20, 14.5% in 2020-21, 15% in 2021-22, and 18.7% in the four months of this fiscal till July 2022.
The corresponding figure for those below 25 years of age, which is just the initial years of a work life, was 52.7% of the total net payroll addition in fiscal 2021-22. It was similar at 47% for the April-July 2022 period. Ten years down, 30% who lose job may not get back to the formal sector.
While it has been bad for those above 35 years in the last four financial years, the four months of April to July this fiscal has for the first time shown a net addition in jobs (EPF subscription) for this age group. While 7.7 lakh exited, about 12 lakh rejoined in these four months, registering a gain of 4.3 lakh workers above 35 years.
