alt Hacker NewsThe obvious middle ground is don’t leave anything valuable at your desk that you wouldn’t want to lose. You shouldn’t leave valuable stuff at your desk even if you don’t expect to be laid off. Unless you work in a very secure environment, you don’t really know who will be sniffing around your desk.
Go ahead and leave a coffee mug, who cares if you lose a coffee mug?
I would be devastated if a few of my coffee mugs were eaten by a firing/layoff. (But I would also not bring those specific coffee mugs to the office, either.)