Vtyjkyuk

United States, ~1000+ employees.

I've been at my company for 5 years now. About 4 years ago we were given laptops but they were really low-end refurbished models. They're not much good except for VPN'ing to work, which was the whole idea, and that is totally fine.

Now the company is giving new top-of-the-line gaming quality laptops to newer employees and not upgrading the folks who have the older laptops.

I feel this is very disrespectful to the employees with more longevity who have been loyal to the company. It just seems very distasteful and may harm employee retention.

So how do I complain about this in a professional way, without coming off as a petulant child?

Edit: I really don't care about the laptop, it's more what the laptop represents. I do see it as a status symbol I suppose. I mean, what's the point of being a senior employee with experience and loyalty to the company if you're not treated with respect and perks? I work hard, go above and beyond to make sure the company succeeds even though we don't get stocks or anything. It's just distasteful and makes it more likely not less that I can be poached away.

Just ask your manager/team lead.

At my place of work, laptops only get swapped out if they're beyond warranty and there's a problem with it. However, it is possible to ask and get the hardware request approved by your manager. I did this a few years ago in order to get rid of the old hand-down laptop I got when I joined.

Q. My laptop is getting old and slow, how can I get one of those new ones?

A. Oh, that's fine. Just put in a hardware request and I'll approve it.

This is how it worked for me.

Now that my current laptop is beyond the warranty date, I could go and ask for a newer one, but have to weigh up the pain of transferring all my software and setting it up again.

Your laptop needs to be good enough to do your assigned work with it. What laptops other people have should be none of your concern.

If your machine does the job, than you should be good. If not, state clearly why it is insufficient, what requirements you have that it doesn't meet and what you would need to happen to make it work. Argue around productivity, efficiency and return on investment. Don't argue about other people's machines.

Your office probably works similar to mine. They have a list of when each laptop is eligible for upgrade (usually based on warranty or some vendor agreement). Even if the laptop is eligible for an upgrade it won't be replaced until it is required. Either because it is completely obsolete or stops working.

Just because you have an old laptop doesn't mean it can't perform to level required to do your job. Every time the company buys a laptop, it costs them money. Why would they spend money where they don't have to?

So how do I complain about this in a professional way, without coming off as a petulant child?

Edit: I really don't care about the laptop, it's more what the laptop represents.

There is no way to do that and appear professional. If you care about what the laptop represents, then that's not a professional consideration. If the laptop doesn't really make a difference (which I assume is why you don't care about it, per se), then you are complaining about something that does not actually impact your ability to do work, which makes it an unprofessional complaint.

Now, if you want to inquire, saying that your laptop is old and dated and wonder if or when you might get an update, there's nothing unprofessional about that.

Complaining that someone else has a better laptop than you have, when you don't actually care about it, and are more concerned because they are more junior than you..... there is no way to make that seem professional. But, hey, we're human, so ask, and pretend there are other considerations at play ("it's kind of slow and klunky"...... "I'm worried that this dated machine might not be as secure as newer models....")

To be clear, I'm not judging you for this. It's normal human and animal behavior to compare and feel some envy when things seem like they are not equitable.

New Scientist: Envious monkeys can spot a fair deal

I'm going to throw my two cents in as asking has never gotten me a new machine. What helped me was having my boss stand at my desk when the machine began locking up.

My scenario was just coincidental, but it's pretty easy to set up such a scenario and actually show why you need a new machine... but I want you to think about: do you really need it? Are you going to make more by getting it, or is your employer going to expect more out of you?

..Something to think about.

Be nice to your IT: They can often arrange hand me down situation (take your info, move it up to the new laptop, then wipe the older laptop for the new person) as a favor.

That said, the company is short sighted, I can't believe they literally buy new hardware for every single employee, don't they take in laptops for people who leave and reuse them?