ESIC adds 1.54 million new employees in February

New Delhi: Provisional payroll data from the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) indicates that approximately 1.54 million new employees joined India's workforce in February this year, about 15.17% lower than the previous month.

The ESIC recorded an approximate 2% increase in contributions from existing employees compared to the same month last year. A statement from the union ministry of labour and employment showed that total number of contributing members to the ESI scheme in February 2025 increased by 566,219 to 2.97 million from 2.91 million in the same month previous year.

The ministry said of the new additions, about 736,000 were young employees under the age of 25, showcasing a significant generation of job opportunities for the nation's younger population. February saw the inclusion of around 23,526 new establishments under the ESIC's social security scheme, expanding coverage to more workers.

The gender-wise analysis of the payroll data revealed that women accounted for 335,000 of the net enrolments in February, with 74 transgender employees also registering under the ESI scheme.

In comparison, January saw 1.81 million new ESIC registrations, including about 867,000 young employees under 25.

Benefits under the ESIC scheme include medical insurance coverage in case of harm to an employee's body during the course of employment. ESIC also provides medical coverage benefits to retires employees. The scheme also provides sickness benefits, where an insured worker gets paid 70% of their wages while on sick leave.

This comes as workers and employees await the implementation of new labour codes introduced by the central government in 2019 and 2020 regarding wages and other social security benefits. The four new labour codes of 2019 and 2020 were rationalised from 29 labour laws governing the workers in the country.

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