But is that at the will of your direct boss or there is a process that they have to go through? Like, if for some reason I piss off my manager, they get mad and fire my ass on the spot? How common is this in tech companies?
Pretty uncommon at tech companies, but it's entirely based on the company's policy. The company can fire you at any time (as long as it's not one of several specific bad reasons like racial discrimination), but it's the company that employs you, not your manager. So only the company can fire you.
Generally big tech companies don't give your manager the authority to blindly fire you, but only because that's a decision the company made.
Short answer is yes. Long answer is yes, but reasonable companies will try to find some reasons first as firing for no reason will only increase company's unemployment insurance.
