The most common reason to return to a former employer is predictable: pay. But a significant portion of employees also indicated that having a former manager reach out to request their return could also push them back, perhaps out of a sense of feeling valued.

35 percent said they would not consider going back to an old job. The most popular explanations those workers gave is that returning to the same workplace would amount to a step backwards in their careers or they didn't like the company's culture.

Granted, most of workers probably didn't hate the job they left. In fact, 16 percent of those polled said they had left a job for reasons unrelated to their satisfaction with the work.

Spherion Division President Sandy Mazur said the findings suggest that both workers and managers would be wise to stay in touch after they part ways.

"Employees should carefully manage their exit in case they want to return down the road, and employers should cast their recruitment net wider to include those who may be looking to come back," she said.

But employers should beware that former employees may not take kindly to being treated like rookies upon their return. Forty-seven percent of those polled said they believed former workers should be subjected to a less rigorous application process, and more than a third said that they the seniority they accrued during their previous stint should be taken into account when determining vacation, pay, and other benefits.