This is only true in the most extreme case. Many companies have formal procedures around firing people for performance issues. Short of hr violations or literally refusing to do anything, I can't imagine someone being fired before 6 months.

I am confused by the world you live in.

Yes, above a certain size, companies typically have some formal procedures. But typically those are a fig leaf.

In many labour markets, there's a legal 90-day probation or equivalent. You bet your boots some people get dismissed at 80 days. Or the job was contract-to-hire, and the contract doesn't "get renewed".

But on top of that, literally every company I've worked at or any of my friends have worked at (including lotsa startups, two of FAANG, and some in-betweens) will terminate when they want to terminate. In most non-European labour markets that I'm aware of, there's a penalty for doing so, and the company just pays that penalty and gets on with it.

Sometimes there's more security than that, I've heard (but not experienced). And sometimes the company puts in large effort to cultivate the underperforming employee first (had that happen to me once; they tried and I tried but it didn't work out). But the overwhelming majority of cases of my first-hand and second-hand experience, dleslie's summary is about the whole story:

> The real interview is always the work you do

Most places I've worked at in the US have a 90-day probationary period. There's still red tape, but not as much. More common now, however, is to hire people on as contractors for 3 to 6 months. If you work out well, they'll fast-track you to becoming full-time without a second thought. Otherwise, your contract is up and they choose not to renew it. Which makes things less dramatic if there are issues.

Probationary periods are industry standard here in British Columbia.

Fair enough. It's to some extent a cultural thing (there's no need for explicit probation in the US since most employment is at will), but I too wouldn't necessarily like a probationary period, even though I don't foresee it actually being an issue.

In the US there often is a formal probationary period at larger companies which mainly accomplishes one thing: reduce the HR red tape if a new hire isn't working out. During the probationary period it's generally easier to make a case (i.e. little or no documentation needed) that 'they're not working out' and HR will be OK with it vs. after the probationary period, you typically have to 'document' them out of the company.

I'm in the USA, and this (probationary period) has been the case with every job I've had in the past 30 years. I've never heard of a company not doing this in fact.

Same here. Though many mid-size / smaller companies might not advertise this fact (their HR policies are often a bit more ad hoc than larger companies if they haven't been involved in as many labor lawsuits)... but pretty much if there's an HR department, the probationary period exists.

When done well it's great for everyone. A healthy employer wants you to succeed, after all your success is their success.

Thus, probationary periods can be a time of training and growth for the new employee.

I'm not sure how much this is considered but in my state, which is an at-will employment state, being unable to preform job tasks due to lacking the knowledge or technical skill is explicitly defined as NOT a demonstration of cause for termination that would absolve the employer of their financial responsibility toward unemployment compensation.