vailian

There are still remnants in Germany of labor protection that dates back to the fifties and sixties when there was such a shortage of trained manpower. They were paying Italians by the trainload to come in and work in the factories in the 1950s, and then in the 60s came in the Turkish "Guest Worker" influx.
And the orchestral musicians, because the orchestras were financed by the cities, became in effect civil servants, and civil servants have the most extraordinary job protection... many cities are now loosening these formal ties by forcing the orchestras into becoming, legally speaking, limited companies, but the job protection is still very strong unless the orchestra itself closes down (as is happening frequently now, especially in the old East Germany).
The radio orchestras enjoy a special protection though as the public radio and TV stations are a government entity (paid for by a generous mixture of state and federal tax revenue and a hefty licence fee), and the orchestral players and staff become for all intents and purposes government workers, enjoying all manner of health, insurance, and retirement benefits.
In all my time here I have never heard of a player being fired for incompetence (although I know many who should have been), and only know 2 players personally who lost their jobs-- one was a woman who felt that her orchestra was not good enough for her so she contrived through a series of pregnancies, illnesses, and "child-rearing years" to keep her position for 8 years without ever turning up for work. Another was a violinist in the radio orchestra here who was more interested in moonlighting with various playing jobs than playing in his own group; if the gigs coincided with radio orchestra concerts he would call in sick (it is very hard to prove someone is not sick if they say they are).
He was finally thrown out when he refused to do a tour with the orchestra, saying he was under doctor's orders not to fly, but used the time off to visit Brazil and Argentina with his girlfriend. this came out because the guy had the nerve to do a house concert at the house of the German ambassador, and it was in the local papers. Even then, he claimed it wasn't him but someone who had stolen his identity! It took 2 years and a series of lawsuits to get rid of him, and only after they confronted him with CCTV footage of him getting on the airplane to South America.
Still: he has his very generous pension intact, and last time I saw him was while we were playing in Vienna, he was playing in various chamber orchestras. Guess you have to admire his nerve and enterprenurial spirit.