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Comment by say_it_as_it_is | Hacker News Reader

> Laptops. We will allow everyone who is impacted to keep their company-issued laptops, to help them research and apply for new roles.

Is this common?

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I think every company acknowledges that there's next to zero value in the hardware itself. Large companies have policies to collect them due to data/IP protection policies. Smaller ones probably don't care as much.

If their employees all have macbooks that can be wiped remotely then yeah that isn't uncommon at this stage. My company allowed laid off folks to keep their laptops after the wipe. Probably just avoids a logistical headache getting the machines back from remote employees.

Big time logistical headache. Not only the cost of shipping itself, but then also reimbursing all of the employees for that expense. Then receiving hundreds of units and then having to check them. What are you going to do with these machines? Now spend time to sell them? Store them? By the time you're ramping up hiring, the machines are outdated. Then you need to pay IT to clean them up and refurbish them. And your new employees don't get the dopamine hit from opening a new MacBook and latest hardware.

No. Most companies don't want you keeping a machine filled with proprietary information and credentials, even if your access gets rolled after you're terminated. But if the company is about to hard pivot and they're laying off half of the people who know proprietary information, I suppose it doesn't make much sense to care much.

Back in the day, NetApp did something similar. It's sad it's not more common, it really helps folks apply for jobs if they don't have a pile of laptops at home.

Though, as the price of computers have come down, it's less common for folks to not have a computer at home - it's still a wonderful gesture that's very low cost.

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