I must admit I'm not very familiar with business accounting or tax rules, and I can't find any sources that directly address this specific topic. it's my understanding that equipment purchases are counted as expenses for the business, so they get to subtract it from their taxable income. does this change when the employee directly controls equipment purchases?
That's basically just a $1000 bump in your salary. The fiction that you're getting an extra technology benefit is just that, a fiction.
From a pragmatic point of view, and an accounting one (for the employer), your "benefits" are taken from your salary. The only time those benefits are worth it for the employer is if it pays for something pre-tax rather than post-tax (health care falls into this category, hence the popularity of employer provided health care).
The accounting term for this is "total employee compensation". That's what matters to the employer when calculating the cost/benefit of an employee.
Be careful what you ask for in benefits. They can be expensive for the employee.