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Restructuring at Mobilink has entered in its next round where more employees are going to see the exit doors, most probably tomorrow evening.
Mobilink said that its aim is to fine-tune organization’s productivity with right-sizing the head-count to ultimately relieve pressure from increasing operating expenditure, which has become a major concern for VimpelCom.
It appears that group level brunt is now going to be borne by the Mobilink employees in Pakistan, which contributes major part of revenues for Moscow based VimpelCom group.
Our well placed sources tell that  Mobilink has plans to off-load at least two dozen employees from finance department this time, from the head office and other regions. Moreover, another few dozens employees from technical department are also going to lose their jobs with-in next few weeks.
Not to forget that at least 30 employees from sales department were shown the doors just last Friday. This was in addition to over 250 employees that were fired from Technical department with-in last six months.
Our sources say that restructuring has caused various positions at Mobilink to become redundant. For instance the finance tasks at various channels are now being handled by customer support people leaving finance guys to become almost valueless for the company.
Similarly, there are other efforts being made to add more functions and responsibilities for some of the staff to ultimately off-load the remaining work-force. Outsourcing technical department was part of the same strategy.
While there is no denying of the fact that Telecom industry is not in its best times these days (see financial reports of telcos for elaboration), however, such massive lays-off are definitely going to worsen the already weakening economy of the country.

Mobilink Foundation in collaboration with Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP) organized the ‘Mobilink Road Safety Painting Competition’ at the Open Air Theater Shakarparian, Islamabad.
The painting competition was aimed at increasing the awareness about road safety to encourage a traffic rules savvy generation.
Hundreds of children from Government and private schools of the twin cities took part in the competition.
Participating students were asked to use their imagination to visually depict simple yet critical topics related to road safety and associated hazards using the medium of art.
A unique feature of the event was the involvement of special children who shared their perspectives on the need for safety measures specifically designed for those with special needs.
Omar Manzur, Head of Corporate Communication Mobilink praised the art of the school children and encouraged them to learn about road safety measures.

Mobilink has partnered with Pepsi to launch new kind of vending machines, which will allow Mobilink users to get their desired drinks from the machine while paying through their available mobile balance. How does it sound? Interesting enough, isn’t it?
Here is how they are doing this:
Customer sends a blank SMS to a short-code, which in return sends a unique PIN code to be entered into the vending machine. After authorization the machine will get you the desired drink while money from your Mobilink balance will get deducted.
Mobilink has started to deploy such vending machines in Lahore and Islamabad, mainly in the universities. But we believe the idea can replicated at various other locations and for other consumer products as well.
Paying through Mobile Balance can altogether become a new payment channel for variety of things, ranging from Cinema tickets to website hosting payments.

How To Use This Service

Send a Blank SMS to the following short codes for your desired drink:

• Pepsi: 7054
• Aquafina: 7055
• Sting Bottle: 7056

By sending a blank SMS to any of above short-code, user will get a 7 digit PIN code through SMS. Enter this PIN code into Machine to get your desired drink.

Pricing

Following are the prices that will be deducted from your mobile balane:

• Pepsi: Rs. 35
• Aquafina: Rs. 25
• Sting Bottle: Rs. 55

There are no additional charges for the service. You will be charged price of the product only with no taxes involved.

Note:

• This service is available for Mobilink prepaid and postpaid customers
• A user cannot vend more than 5 drinks in a day
• All complaints/Queries will be entertained by the Pepsi vending machine helpline: 051-2256166
• Machine will not dispense the drink if it is switched off or if the keyboard is not responding
• Do not press the vending selection button if red light is on. It means that the product is out of stock.