Years ago I interviewed for Amazon. I found out that on a desired team size of 8, there were only 3 left, where the other 5 who were no longer there, as I was told, were poor performers. I didn't take the job.
Here in Europe they need a very serious reason anyway (like gross misconduct) and if they don't have it they can make you redundant but have to pay significant severance. I'm kinda waiting for an opportunity for that at my current employer, due to leadership changes it's no longer a great place to work. When there's layoffs there's usually voluntary options with a decent severance plan.
I'm glad we don't have this at-will stuff here. I would never considering moving somewhere that does (I've lived in 4 countries now). Universal healthcare is also a must, and good public transport.
So America will never be an option for me in any case.
>Here in Europe they need a very serious reason anyway (like gross misconduct)
Definitely not true in all of Europe. There's some countries where severance pay is not mandatory for all workers' groups and reasons aren't needed to fire someone (the green countries)[1] and also some have loopholes where PIP is legal and often used, so in practice YMMV depending on the laws where you live and the unions in your job/industry.
>(like gross misconduct)
Again, not always true. In many countries gross misconduct can be grounds for on the spot termination. For example in NL there was a truck driver that modified the safety system on his truck so he can unload potentially dangerous cargo from the comfort of his cabin without having to keep the outside lift button pressed. When caught he was fired on the spot with no severance and no unemployment, and even lost the case after he sued for unjust termination.
Which is generally used as a means to collect evidence that they're unable to do the job before firing them (and in many cases the decision to fire them has already been made).
I heard its as bad as this. Take a team of 5 genius engineers, the best 5 in the world.
There is a PIP quota, so one of the genius engineers must be PIP'ed, despite being in the top 5 engineers globally.