Is it, though? I've always brought my own tools - my Aeron, my preferred high-refresh monitors, a Linux dev machine where possible, my monitor arms, my IDE.

I have a good setup. I know it works.

It's not as feasible to get my own standing desk in each time so I let that go. But they always give me everything and I just set them aside and use my (superior) tooling.

I don't think that's paying the company. That's just me buying tools that are optimal for me. I don't really need each employer to do that for me. These things are mostly buy it for life (except for the desktop and IDE license).

I'd never even consider paying for an IDE I need for work. Why would a company not buy me software that has a direct and immediate impact on my productivity? Huge red flag.

All of these things are productivity improvements. And I'm sure any company would buy them if I cared, but $200? It's a rounding error. And it liberates me from any choices they'd make.

IntelliJ Ultimate is $500 for a commercial license I believe (and you need a commercial license to do work for a company over a certain size, even if you pay for it yourself). Sure it's not going to affect my finances either way but:

1. The 2 minutes it takes to file an expense report is a good trade for $200 (I don't make $6,000 an hour at my job)

2. It's the principle; they should pay for it, not me.

No, you don't have to do that¹. Where did you get that info? I don't want to argue your personal value calculation and I accept that you feel the way you do, so let's set that part aside.

I've been using my IntelliJ licence at multiple jobs on my own and AFAIK if I don't get it reimbursed I don't need a business licence.

¹ https://sales.jetbrains.com/hc/en-gb/articles/207240855-Can-...

Ah you're right, I stand corrected on the license.

I don't see the value calculation as an emotional one, I truly don't see a reason not to fill out the expense report

I didn't mean to imply that it was emotional, just that it is your own preference and different from mine. Personal there as relating to your person.

Sorry, needed to clarify that, but I really don't want to argue this point with you.

In the past I’ve been a dev at a company that didn’t understand software development at all; and fighting these battles is exactly why I left. Different strokes for different folks, but it’s great to work somewhere that gives me the tools I need for the job without having to ask, and certainly without having to source and pay for them myself.

You may not realize that the $500 chair, the ping pong table and the beer fridge effectively comes out of everyone's paycheck.

Right, but is that money coming back to employees in the form of pay bumps now that those things are gone?

Those thing aren't gone, they've already been paid for and are being written off.

Of course, with new contracts being negotiated, not having to pay for all these expenses will give an employer more leeway in terms of salary. However, remote work also increases the candidate pool, so the net effect is going to be lower salaries.