Forty percent of employers say they are planning to rehire laid-off workers as full-time employees, consultants, or freelancers, according to a survey by OI Partners, a career transition and coaching firm.

The survey found that financial services companies were most likely to say they plan to rehire some laid-off employees. Nearly half of financial services companies in the survey said they plan to rehire at least some workers who were laid off for reasons unrelated to their performance. Government agencies and nonprofit institutions were least likely to say they plan to rehire laid-off workers, followed by healthcare employers.

Fifty-two percent of employers said they frequently or occasionally rehire laid-off workers, compared with 48 percent who said they rarely or never rehire laid-off workers.

"This attitude represents a major shift in employers' rehiring philosophy,” says Tim Schoonover, chairman of OI Partners. “In the past, companies would not rehire laid-off employees, but now they are more willing, and more employees may consider returning.”

However, 37 percent of employers in the survey said they have no plans to rehire recently laid-off workers, according to the survey, which included 318 organizations.

“Rehiring laid-off employees is a way to keep hiring costs down, since there will not be any fees to be paid,” says Schoonover. “Employers already know the workers' talents and skills, they can get back to performing their old jobs quickly, and have already demonstrated they fit well into the organization. "The cost of a bad hire can reach as high as three times an employee's salary when including severance, unemployment compensation, recruiting expenses, lost business income and productivity, and potential wrongful termination lawsuits.”