6 ms·
Eh, from the company's perspective this is logistically easiest--the laptop's value is hardly worth the effort.
by bmulholland 1y ago
Eh, from the company's perspective this is logistically easiest--the laptop's value is hardly worth the effort.
- zem 1y agoa lot of companies ask for equipment to be returned due to security concerns, or just on principle
- igleria 1y agoklarna allowed us to buy our work phone and macbook paying only the tax value. We had to give them the devices so they would be wiped out by a third party, then they mailed them to my home.
- runako 1y agoThis is a G move, without a doubt the best way I've heard of this being done.
- OptionOfT 1y agoMacBooks and iPhones are amongst the easiest to wipe remotely. You can wipe them fully (which would be the recommendation for MacBooks) and remove just work-installed apps on an iPhone.
- kstrauser 1y agoAbsolutely. I was in charge of that at a previous job, and telling Jamf to nuke the device did the job the next time it was turned on.
- deelowe 1y agoWhen I left microsoft, I kept everything EXCEPT data bearing devices. I got the sense they REALLY didn't want to have to collect the laptops either, but the VPs were forced to by compliance.
- jelder 1y agoA company which is even moderately "OK" at IT will already have the means to instantly lock and securely wipe devices of any employee at a moments notice. Doing this during a RIF is a hell of a lot better than making the mail room deal with a bunch of filthy laptops.
- oblio 1y agoA large bunch of big companies, including some of the biggest on the planet don't even sell past-end-of-life laptops to their current employees. Let that sink in. They're not even willing to <<sell>> old laptops, they would rather scrap them and contribute to pollution and overall waste.
- preinheimer 1y agoIf you scrap a laptop you get a nice, auditable, chain of custody from the end user to the company that will certify it's been destroyed. If you sell someone their old laptop you need to ensure that it's actually been wiped, not just "I copied my files over and started using the new one". I've seen a few IT departments be not great at "Sam got their new laptop two weeks ago, someone should follow up now to see if the wipe on the old one happened". One choice won't get you fired, the other might save you a bit of cash.
- AlotOfReading 1y agoOne former employer had this policy, and also refused to provide a way to ship said equipment back. No one was happy with my alternative solution: leaving it at the police station instead.
- kstrauser 1y agoIs that what you proposed or what you actually did? I want a story!
- AlotOfReading 1y agoI actually did it. This was back in the times when you could get a job the next day, and my new employer didn't want me keeping anything from the old employer by the time I started. Old employer was dragging their feet on the shipping label and made it clear that failure to return the equipment would be considered theft. I gave them a week of daily reminder emails with an approaching deadline (no response), then handed it to the cops as abandoned property. Got a few HR calls immediately afterwards asking how to pick it up, and an annoyed police call asking me not to do it again.
- kstrauser 1y agoI love this. Bravo.
- goldchainposse 1y ago> made it clear that failure to return the equipment would be considered theft Is "please arrange for a courier to retrieve it" not the end of your obligations?
- AlotOfReading 1y agoIn a situation where everyone (including me) was acting reasonably, sure. But I was slightly gruntled from being pushed out for filing a safety report, and keeping it in my possession would have technically violated my new contract. Giving it to the police was clearly not stealing it and didn't require going out of my way to help them solve a problem of their own creation.
- javawizard 1y agoAnd yet only one company I've ever worked for went this way. I wish more did; it really is such a small goodwill gesture to departing employees.
- etchalon 1y agoWe always let our ex-employees keep their laptops because a. why not? and b. I don't need laptops for positions that no longer exist.
- gopher_space 1y ago“Welcome to your new job at HighSpeed TopFlight. Here’s an old, used laptop.”
- ornornor 1y agoI’ve had that happen to me at a new job. It disnt make my new employer shine.
- gopher_space 1y agoOne of my key metrics for evaluating employers is Time To Second Monitor.
- MDGeist 1y agoI was at a company that let people keep laptops (after they were wiped) largely because the severance was so meager it seemed they expected people to sell the laptops for some extra cash. :p
- dylan604 1y agodoubtful it was considered extra cash, but just now not needing to spend cash on replacing the laptop with personal money