Speaking for Microsoft in the 2010's: pretty hard. First you get pip'ed and have lots of uncomfortable discussions with your manager. You'll be encouraged to le

Speaking for Microsoft in the 2010's: pretty hard. First you get pip'ed and have lots of uncomfortable discussions with your manager. You'll be encouraged to leave on your own. Eventually you'll be told to leave. They want a pretty iron-clad case to reduce the chance that you'll sue, since keeping you on for another year or two while they super-document your shortcomings tends to be cheaper than dealing with a lawsuit. I saw it first-hand, I wasn't pip'ed myself. :D