Youth Driving Formal Job Growth, BFSI Offers Highest Average Salary Of Rs 28,500: Quess Report

The Employees Provident Fund Organization has recorded the highest-ever enrolment in 2024-25, driven by young additions to the workforce. This indicates that India's labour force is slowly moving towards formalisation, a report by Quess Corp said on Monday.

According to "India's Workforce Trends & Quess Corp Role In Formalisation," 80% of India's 570 million workers are still in the informal economy. However, formalisation is steadily gaining momentum.

EPFO recorded 139.78 lakh net new subscribers in financial year 2025, this is the highest-ever addition. It is more than double the 61-lakh enrollment seen in fiscal 2019.

From these additions, 61% were under 29 years of age with close to half of them between the age of 18 and 25. The report revealed that with the increasing number of youngsters getting added, formal jobs were also increasingly becoming the first career step for young Indians.

Not just the youth, even women labour force participation has risen 41.7% in the last fiscal year, with women accounting for a quarter of new EPFO subscribers during the year.

"To increase women's participation in the workforce, there must be greater focus on social infrastructure, such as safe accommodation and reliable transportation facilities addressing mobility and safety concerns," said Quess Corp President, Workforce Management, Lohit Bhatia.

The report, which is based on primary research with a sample size of 6 lakh people, also showed that retail, BFSI, manufacturing and telecom are the top four industries leading in job creation. In terms of wage, BFSI offered the highest average salary package of Rs 28,500 per month, followed by retail at Rs 23,000 per month.