Since everyone agrees on this point I now absolutely consider that a fair argument. I just don't want to believe without a little research first. In fact I think I learned more than I expected from everyone's responses.
The VPN access works over remote desktop. Should've probably made that clearer from the start.
I don't know if this is specific to here, but you'd have to toggle the VPN explicitly on and off and with another password, separate from your user account. Along with the usual drill to have another password to access the machine and lock it when you're away. I agree it ultimately comes down to trust however.
Yes, that is precisely what I do right now. But I need to log into the VPN since the RDP server is only available inside the company network and not in the public internet. Unless you're talking about in my home wifi to avoid the dock.
1) Thanks, docks at work are provided, but I'll check whether they will also provide one for working at home.
2) This is more or less the way it's already done. The plan now is to replace every desktop PC with only one laptop per employee company-wide. Which is why I was asking if this is such a common practice, especially since the company tries hard to come off as modern and hip in other regards.
3) Very good point, I'll look into that. I'm not in the US, but similar regulations probably apply here.
I don't question the security benefit. I think you're absolutely right that the users always come first. The production system and its data was never running inside the company network and is protected additionally.
I feel it'll be a loss of usability since they want to have a one-size-fits-all laptop. The model I've seen is noisy and a bit heavy. Suddenly having to carry one every single day irks me a bit. Having to (un)plug monitors and periphery at home is going to be additional effort (but explicitly allowed). Not saying it's not worth it (and somewhat complaining on a high level), but it is a loss of comfort.
I should clarify, it was not expected, it was a possibility. If you wanted to get a laptop instead, this was no problem. Several colleagues already have some, although in varying quality.
Thanks for your input. Speaking for myself, I've always tried to keep everything separate though not such a deep level. Sometimes it can be very practical to just switch to a VM or fire up a different browser in order to take a look at something.
Up until now I haven't noticed any restrictive bloatware on company machines, so that's a plus.
Didn't Gödel explicitly proof that there are some statements that cannot be proven this way? Is it just assumed that these will not be relevant for all the hard problems that humans cannot solve or am I missing something here?