The short answer
The best device retrieval service for a growing company is usually an IT asset management (ITAM) partner, not a separate offboarding vendor. Employee offboarding is one stage of the device lifecycle. A partner that already deploys, tracks, and repairs your hardware can recover a device, wipe it to a recognized standard, and put it back into service without your information technology (IT) team chasing anyone.
When companies shop for employee offboarding services, they are shopping for the hardware side of a departure: a return kit or pickup, follow-up with the former employee, tracking in transit, data sanitization, and a decision about where the device goes next. A standalone return service covers the first part of that list. An ITAM partner covers all of it, and connects it to the onboarding and inventory work that comes before and after.
Device retrieval options compared
| Approach | What it covers | Best for | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| ITAM and lifecycle partner | Retrieval as part of the full lifecycle: deployment, tracking, data wipe, certified repair, storage, re-imaging, and redeployment | Growing companies that reuse hardware and want returned devices ready for the next hire | Confirm the partner is certified to repair the hardware you run |
| Global device platform | Return kits or pickups across many countries, regional warehousing, human resources information system (HRIS) integration | Distributed teams hiring across borders | Turnaround varies by region; repair is often handed to third parties |
| Standalone return service | A padded box, prepaid label, reminders, and package tracking | Teams with a few departures a year that handle everything else in-house | The service ends when the box arrives; wipe, repair, and redeployment fall back on your team |
| IT asset disposition (ITAD) pickup | On-site packing and collection, certified destruction, resale or recycling | Office closures, fleet refreshes, and end-of-life hardware | Built for bulk disposal more than one-off departures |
How we evaluated employee offboarding services
Judge any provider on the four things IT managers and human resources (HR) operations leaders tell us break most often at growing companies.
Asset recovery rate
A retrieval service is only as good as the share of devices it gets back. Ask for a documented return rate and the sample size behind it. Ask what happens on day 14 when a former employee stops answering, and who owns escalation.
Data security and chain of custody
Every handoff between the employee, the courier, and the warehouse should be logged against one asset record. On arrival, the device should be sanitized to National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 800-88 with a certificate you can hand an auditor.
Logistics and coverage
Check that the vendor covers every country and state where you employ people today, plus the next two you plan to hire in. Look at return options: prepaid kits, drop-off points, and home pickup each change completion rates. Ask how the vendor handles a spike of 20 or more returns after a reorganization.
IT handoff reliability
The retrieval should start from your HRIS or IT service management tool, not from someone remembering to open a ticket. When the device comes back, it should land somewhere useful: repaired, re-imaged, enrolled in mobile device management (MDM), and ready for the next hire. A vendor that stops at the warehouse door leaves the hardest part with your team.
Your options for device retrieval
1. An ITAM and lifecycle partner: best for most growing companies
An ITAM partner treats retrieval as one step in the device’s life, not a separate project. The same team that deployed the laptop knows its serial number, its owner, and its condition. When someone leaves, the partner recovers the device, wipes it to NIST 800-88, inspects and repairs it, re-images it, enrolls it in MDM, and stores it until the next hire starts.
Strengths: Offboarding and onboarding run through one inventory and one team. A returned device becomes a ready device, and certified repair keeps a laptop with a worn battery or cracked display in service instead of sending it to recycling.
Watch for: Repair certification matters. For an Apple fleet, look for an Apple Authorized Service Provider so repairs use genuine parts and protect warranty coverage.
2. A global device platform: best for teams hiring across borders
Global platforms combine retrieval with procurement and deployment across many countries. The strongest connect to your HRIS, so a departure date opens a retrieval without a ticket. Returned devices go to regional warehouses for storage or resale.
Strengths: Broad coverage, automated triggers, and one dashboard for every device in every country.
Watch for: Turnaround varies by region, so ask for country-level timelines. Ask who performs repairs and whether they are certified for your hardware.
3. A standalone return service: best for low-volume teams with in-house IT
A standalone service ships a padded box, a prepaid label, and instructions to the departing employee, then sends reminders until the package is delivered. It handles the shipping step of offboarding and nothing after it.
Strengths: Fast to set up and simple for the employee.
Watch for: Data wipe, repair, re-imaging, and redeployment stay with your team. As headcount grows, that work grows with it, which is the point where most companies move to an ITAM partner.
4. An ITAD pickup service: best for bulk returns and end-of-life hardware
ITAD providers send a team to pack and collect equipment, then destroy data with a certificate for each serial number and resell or recycle what remains. They suit office closures and fleet refreshes.
Strengths: No packing burden on employees and strong compliance reporting.
Watch for: The model is built for volume and end of life. It is a poor fit for a single remote departure whose laptop should go back into service.
How to choose a device retrieval partner
Start with your fleet and your map, then decide how much of the post-return work you want to keep in-house.
| If your situation is | Prioritize | Shortlist |
|---|---|---|
| Mostly Macs and iPads, and you reuse hardware | Certified Apple repair and redeployment after return | ITAM partner that is an Apple Authorized Service Provider |
| HR wants offboarding to run itself | HRIS integration that triggers retrieval | ITAM partner or global platform with HRIS integration |
| Employees in 20+ countries | Country coverage and local warehousing | Global device platform |
| Regulated industry or pending litigation | Chain-of-custody logs, wipe certificates, legal hold | ITAM partner that documents every handoff |
| A few departures a year and a full in-house IT team | Shipping and reminders only | Standalone return service |
| Office closure or fleet refresh | On-site packing, destruction certificates, resale | ITAD pickup service |
Before you sign, ask every provider the same five questions:
- What is your documented return rate, and how many retrievals is it based on?
- What happens, step by step, when a former employee stops responding?
- Which data sanitization standard do you follow, and what certificate do we receive?
- Where does the device go after it arrives, and who decides?
- Do you also deploy and track these devices, or does that stay with us?
Frequently asked questions
What are employee offboarding services?
Employee offboarding services manage the hardware side of a departure: a return kit or pickup, follow-up with the former employee, tracking in transit, data sanitization, and routing the device to storage, repair, redeployment, or recycling. Most growing companies get these services from their ITAM partner rather than a separate vendor.
Is device retrieval part of IT asset management?
Yes. Device retrieval is the offboarding stage of IT asset management. An ITAM partner that deploys and tracks your devices already holds the serial numbers, owners, and condition records that make retrieval work, so recovery, data wipe, repair, and redeployment stay in one workflow instead of passing between vendors.
How long does laptop retrieval take?
Domestic retrievals take one to two weeks from request to warehouse arrival. International returns take one to three weeks, depending on courier access and how fast the former employee responds. Partners with local warehouses tend to land at the shorter end.
What happens if a former employee won’t return a laptop?
Most retrieval services escalate with repeated reminders, alternate pickup windows, and a report back to your team. If the device still does not come back, lock it through mobile device management and follow your written equipment policy.
Should HR or IT own device retrieval?
Share it. HR owns the trigger, since it knows the last day first. IT owns access revocation, the device lock, and what happens to the hardware after return. The best setups connect the HRIS to the ITAM partner so the handoff never depends on a reminder.
Do device retrieval services wipe company data?
Most do, but the standard varies. Ask for NIST 800-88 sanitization and a certificate tied to each serial number. If a device may be needed for an investigation or lawsuit, ask the vendor to hold it unwiped until legal clears it.
Bottom line
Getting a laptop back is the first half of offboarding. The second half is turning that laptop into a ready device for your next hire, and that is where most growing companies lose time. Treat retrieval as part of IT asset management, and choose a partner that handles the whole lifecycle rather than a vendor that stops at the warehouse door.
If your fleet runs on Apple, talk with ComputerCare about retrieval, certified repair, and redeployment in one workflow.
