From a governance perspective, the important thing is to be sure employees return all IP which is typically on laptops and phones, so generally folks are less concerned about getting monitors or keyboards back. Local backups should be returned as well if you have them.
For my last few jobs I negotiated that I would keep what ever company issued laptop I had at the time of my separation, with the company having the option to reset it to factory before releasing it to me. One of my managers thought it was a good idea (because he didn't have any use for "old" laptops)
Where can one find these vendors?
Furniture is interesting because in the one instance I know of the company just wrote it off as a loss - apparently that's fine from an accounting standpoint - at least in this corner of the world.
I'm now employed elsewhere so if they ever ask again I'll happily send it back.
Another place, a small biz, wanted everything, including the Kindle I had been gifted earlier in the week. Even tried to get me to give up the laptop case I purchased for the work laptop. Nothing worse than having to take back a cheap Kindle, hours after being laid off.
If the employer is at risk of getting sued, "giving them away" may be a very good consideration.
The weird bit was that they insisted on keeping the keyboards, earphones and mice that were at the office.
Like they're actually going to re-use someones crusty 5 old keyboard, but corporations corporate and we didn't fight the matter.
On other hand in current open office/hot seating just leaving ready setups on desks make actual sense.
Computrace/absolute is a literal rootkit
It does do what the user wants. Your employer owns your work PC and is the ultimate user, not you.
The only time that hasn’t happened was when I left aol, where our biz group was sold off to a new shop, I wasn’t needed, but the equip belonged to the new shop and they didn’t care.
So, I stowed them on a shelf and after some time, I found a use for them in my familly. I did not sell them, just in case they asked me to return them later.
I noticed it when trying to reformat the disk and reinstall MacOS using the install image downloaded from Apple. During installation, the MacOS installer said this laptop was registered by [company name] and to continue the installation, I had to login using the corporate SSO.
So, I guess that MacOS laptops are useless once you quit the company ?
rEFInd bootloader - https://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/
Though Mx series processors can be much more difficult and vary with results.
But Apple does not know for all machines who owns them. Typically, you have to create an Apple Business Management account. And buy from Apple directly or via select resellers. The idea being that you can send it to staff directly without installing it.
You can attach a computer to your ABM account manually, but it requires reinstall and physical access. It involves faffing around with an iPhone that has Apple Configurator installed.
Also, if the machine has no internet when it is booted during install, it will skip the phoning home, and you can 'circumvent' the MDM
YMMV, but I expect most companies would consider such deals.
My last company gave out TVs, furniture, expensive kitchenware, etc. They warehouse the laptops underground for eternity. They won't even scrap the drives and resell them.
Abandon all hope, ye who enter; from Dante's Inferno
My best guess is this
My previous employer wanted it back even though they’re a trillion dollar company.
Prior companies did require me to return it.