[Udo]

> Also, this callous attitude will run afoul of labour protection laws in most civilized countries that aren't the US.

I can only speak for Germany, but here it's normal to have a trial period ("Probezeit") for jobs, it's specifically designed for employers and employees to find out if they can work together. Once that trial period (which can last for months) is over, there are additional protections for the employee, but you can still fire someone, it just costs more. It's not a bad deal (and I say this as someone who once had to fire an employee for what I would call malicious incompetence: we still had to pay severance, but after that both parties went on their merry way).