Just a rant, I am at work and need to vent.

This is totally a feminist issue. Seem the laptops are fine for the average man to lug around, but not for the average woman. All the men involved think therefore there is no problem. Meanwhile the women are buying expensive backpacks/suffering/getting told they are being difficult

OP I share your rage. Where I work we all have to do desk risk assessment sheets everytime we move desks. Do you have anything similar?

I'm sorry but this just seems silly.

I'm 5'2" and have carried a laptop daily for the best part of a decade, have never given it a second thought. Just hold it by the handle on the laptop case.

I used to have a SurfacePro in my last job, teeny thing but still a PAIN IN THE ARSE to carry in my bag when commuting on the train to London (plus taking in lunch, drinks or whatever other crap I need/want). Is there a locker you can keep it in so you don't have to take it home each night? This is what my DH's company do as they hot desk.

Agree completely.

It’s Ok if you’ve got a car but I’m on public transport and I refuse to lug one around. It’s not specifically the weight in itself, it’s just too awkward on the bus (busy, cramped) especially as there is enough to carry already including lunch etc. I also have to walk uphill from bus stop to work.

I’m not sure this is a femenist issue. I can’t say I know of any woman to have commented about laptops being difficult to carry before this. Unless they’re unusually heavy I would think this would be more of an ability issue. Obviously people who are not very strong due to age or health problems/injury would struggle but not your average fit and healthy woman.

I have had to carry a laptop for work since the start of my career (audit 😴) and while it is useful to be able to work from home, it’s a right pain (in every sense!). I now use a rucksack although I hate that it doesn’t look smart. I had a trolley bag at one point but I stopped using it as I got sick of clients asking if I was going on holiday (ha bloody ha). Not a lot useful to add but I feel your pain!

I am usually office based now and I can at least lock the laptop in a locker/ desk drawers overnight which is handy although I usually take it home in case a sick child prevents me from coming into the office the next day.

I have back issues so work gave me two laptops - one for home and one for work. I had an OH referral to support this.

DH sometimes brings a work laptop home.. it's massive. It's completely different to a personal laptop.
Also what one person finds heavy/bulky is completely different to what someone else finds heavy. Smaller hands, shorter arms, smaller frame... It all adds up. Even just being an inch or two shorter can make a difference.

Most backpacks are designed for the male frame and especially torso length/height. Had to get a v expensive walking rucksack with adjustable strap fixings as the otherwise perfectly acceptable cheaper ones were too long. Women are on average shorter and have proportionally longer legs/shorter torso than men.

Also weight - well built, average height male could comfortably be 100kg. Healthy average height female could well be 50kg. Weight of laptop, charger and associated gubbins could well be 2.5kg (more for bigger screen or bulkier (cheaper) options. I make that 5% of body weight- much more significant proportion than for a bigger person

Totally with you on this one OP, why aren’t you allowed to leave the laptop at work over night? Can you argue it’s a data security issue to have everyone carting around laptops all over the place? Taking a laptop to meetings or home for the odd night is one thing but expecting people to regularly shove them in gym lockers or take them to the pub with them for after work drinks is different.

That's nice for you lolly. Maybe OP's shoulders are narrower than yours, so shoulder straps don't work. The fact that you can manage doesn't mean op can. You understand that I'd guess?

I'm very small and laptops are fine to carry.

I sympathise, I’m very small and laptops are a nightmare to carry

I hate having to bring mine to and from work. The only positive is when I have to stay at home unexpectedly for any reason I don't need to put an emergency holiday, I can just log on and do my work. I look ridiculous walking in with millions of bags every morning, I could do without the laptop really. I also leave mine in my car boot every night, I can't face having to take everything out the car every night and put it back in every morning

Lolly

How so?

Sorry, you sound like a problem seeker.

I was so happy when I read Invisible Women and thought “it’s not ME!”. I’ve spent years feeling like I’m “too short” or “my hands are too small” (like when you’ve got to operate a tool/unlock a door/anything that involves fingers that are somewhat longer than mine” or “I’m too short for this car” (when the seatbelt always rubs my collarbone even on the lowest setting and I have to have my chair so far forward for the pedals my knees touch the steering wheel). It’s not ME! I’m a perfectly acceptable and normal size and strength, it’s everything else that wasn’t designed for me. And yes, this is a perfect example of it.

They really should have done an assessment on the laptops that have been purchased, and bought something light. Carrying something heavy back and forth is a recipe for damage or loss of the device (so much for environmental impact at that point). Do they at least give you multiple power packs so you don't have to hump that around? Because those can be bricks too. Not to mention of course the impact on the person carrying - which of course is different person to person. My DP is 6 foot. He can regularly carry much heavier weights than I can, which is obvious to anyone.

Every time I or DP had to carry a laptop regularly, we asked for and got a light one - a macbook air, or a little Dell or whatever the company used. I currently have a macbook pro (not my choice, all that was available at the time), and it is bulky and heavy (I put it in a sleeve in my work bag which is just a handbag with handles and a shoulder strap), and I'll be switching back to an air as soon as I can.

I'm sarcopenic (clinically low levels of muscle mass). Carrying pretty much anything can start to be a problem very quickly.

And:
*despite the usual phrase of sarcopenic obesity, I'm the lower end of BMI;
*yes, I weight-train and it takes a lot of effort to retain the muscle mass that I do have and some reasonable quality to it.

I've yet to find a backpack that fits me (and I'm slightly above average height).

Firms/organisations need greater responsiveness to the needs of all their workers.

My old one was really heavy - carrying it (as I walk) for an hour was bad for my back. They guys got wheelie bags as some do the techs had heavier ones.

I now have a dinky surface which I plug into a screen and keyboard at work (similar set up at home) and it fits into my handbag.

I use a trolley bag due to a shoulder injury but OP is right, they are also a pain when commuting.

Your colleague sounds a twat. Fancy presuming your experiences are the same when you're different heights/weights etc. and the smaller of you is injured.

I try to reduce the carry weight as much as I can and one way to do that was to order a separate power lead/adapter as they're surprisingly heavy. I keep one at home and one at work so I don't need to carry that back and forth.

I found it wasn't just the laptop but all the other bits and pieces I ended up carrying.

Classic invisible woman territory!

OP I’d go down the “health & safety” route - having ppl with neck, shoulder & wrist injuries from carrying heavy laptops (most of whom seem to be women) is a bad idea for any company. If you have to carry one between home & work then it is up to them to ensure you can do it safely & without damaging your health

Do you have to carry it back and forth daily? If so you’re right it is quite an extra weight.

In a previous role (whilst contracting) my boss suggested that as he did I should take my laptop home with me daily rather than lock it in my locker. I laughed and said no, I would take it home when I was WFH but otherwise I was not carrying it back and forth. I should add his role was v senior management and there may be a need for him to have emergency system access out of hours, my role did not.