Final answer:
Bad hires can represent a cost to an organization of up to 100% of a new hire's first-year earnings, due to direct and indirect costs associated with recruiting, training, and lost productivity.
Step-by-step explanation:
Bad hires can be costly for an organization, and the cost of a bad hire can be significant when considering the investment in recruiting, onboarding, training, and the lost productivity when a new hire does not work out as expected. The most cited figure by experts in the field is that bad hires may cost an organization as much as 100% or more of a new hire's first-year earnings, which includes both direct and indirect costs. While there are various estimates, option D) 100% is often referred to as a rule of thumb for the upper range of these costs.