Ouch. Friend started at a smallish company (~20 employees), and instead of a new machine he got handed the CEO's 5 year old Dell so the CEO could buy a new machine.

He sees it as no big deal, but am I the only one that sees that as (to put it mildly) a bit of a red flag? It's not the machine itself that's so much of a problem, more the attitude behind the decision that stinks.

Yeah, does seem a bit off. Not seen that happen before---well, not frequently enough for me to remember.

wdym?
Companies don't reuse machines? If an employee leaves the job or leaves good machine for whatever reason, I see no problem in handing it over to someone else

That's not how you show that your welcomed and appreciated and that you're expected to deliver top performance. That's a recipe for a early resignation.

@Konsole he's from the uk not poor india. And computer gear older than 2 years shouldn't be handed over.

I hope he will get paid despite of CEO buying new Ferrari.

@heyheni it happens in the netherlands as well. At my previous project I got a two year old laptop, when doing a certain task I got a BSOD. So our new CEO got my shitty laptop and I got another one.

Its pretty common to get a used laptop from a company. We barely know the situation. The project before the previous one the CEO had to render small animated movies, i as a simple developer didn't need a new beast and got his old one so he could get a new one for his rendering. While mine was overpowered for simple tablet game development.

@heyheni Umm, what do you mean by "He's not from poor india"?

@heyheni No. If a machine is in a good condition, I see no problem with reusing it. If it gives problems you can change it. As long it is getting the job done.
It's just a waste of money and resources to throw away a good machine just because someone else used it