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An employer not providing a work machine is the first red flag. The only time I ever provided my own machine was for a very scrappy "startup" where I was the f

An employer not providing a work machine is the first red flag. The only time I ever provided my own machine was for a very scrappy "startup" where I was the first dev. Even then, it turned out the company was destined for failure.

brodouevencode 3y ago
100% I once worked for a very small agency that "preferred" that I use my own machine. Then my PO would get upset that I didn't put documentation into a Word doc (was on Linux, and this was in the days where OO did not have great .doc compatibility so her styles that she insisted on using would be mangled badly) and go complain to the COO. He'd then ask if I could install Windows and my response was always that if he provided the machine I'd run whatever he needed. Which meant that's 2-3 golf outings he couldn't go on with clients and he was not about to sacrifice that. So he'd roll his eyes and leave me alone for a couple of months. That company, too, ended in failure (luckily after I left).
robotshmobot 3y ago
Undoubtedly. The Venn diagram of businesses that require this much surveillance and won’t provide hardware is probably almost a circle.
JohnFen 3y ago
This. My employer needs to supply every piece of equipment that I need to do my job. I am not here to subsidize my employer's business expenses. As a matter of policy, I never use my personal machines/devices for work. This policy protects both myself and my employer.
- rascul 3y ago
  I find it interesting that the expectation is the opposite in some fields. For example, every auto mechanic I know supplies their own tools except for a few specialized tools the shop owns.
  - JohnFen 3y ago
    I imagine different fields have different needs and constraints. A big difference I can see between the tools a mechanic needs and the tools a dev needs is that there are rather large security and privacy risks with computers that don't exist with things like wrenches.
  - bitshiftfaced 3y ago
    I believe this may have to do with how many mechanics are paid as independent contractors
techwizrd 3y ago
Agreed. Employers should provide, manage, and support work machines. I would never install employer-required spyware on my personal machine. Similarly, the only time I used my own laptop was for a scrappy startup where I was the first engineer.

brodouevencode 3y ago

100% I once worked for a very small agency that "preferred" that I use my own machine. Then my PO would get upset that I didn't put documentation into a Word doc (was on Linux, and this was in the days where OO did not have great .doc compatibility so her styles that she insisted on using would be mangled badly) and go complain to the COO. He'd then ask if I could install Windows and my response was always that if he provided the machine I'd run whatever he needed. Which meant that's 2-3 golf outings he couldn't go on with clients and he was not about to sacrifice that. So he'd roll his eyes and leave me alone for a couple of months. That company, too, ended in failure (luckily after I left).

robotshmobot 3y ago

Undoubtedly. The Venn diagram of businesses that require this much surveillance and won’t provide hardware is probably almost a circle.

JohnFen 3y ago

This. My employer needs to supply every piece of equipment that I need to do my job. I am not here to subsidize my employer's business expenses. As a matter of policy, I never use my personal machines/devices for work. This policy protects both myself and my employer.

rascul 3y ago
I find it interesting that the expectation is the opposite in some fields. For example, every auto mechanic I know supplies their own tools except for a few specialized tools the shop owns.
- JohnFen 3y ago
  I imagine different fields have different needs and constraints. A big difference I can see between the tools a mechanic needs and the tools a dev needs is that there are rather large security and privacy risks with computers that don't exist with things like wrenches.
- bitshiftfaced 3y ago
  I believe this may have to do with how many mechanics are paid as independent contractors

techwizrd 3y ago

Agreed. Employers should provide, manage, and support work machines. I would never install employer-required spyware on my personal machine. Similarly, the only time I used my own laptop was for a scrappy startup where I was the first engineer.