> a bad hire in a company where letting people go in general is a non-starter

This is your chance to institute good on-the-job training facilities.

"Bad hire" is a "hire" who requires more training than others (in whatever area they may lack, including human interaction). If you can manage to provide that person with effective training that salvages their status, then you had effectively created a training program that everyone else in the company can now take advantage of.

If you can't, well, it will turn out that the company lacks a vision vis-a-vis training. That is what makes a "bad hire" an "omg unsalvageable bad hire, run for the hills!" (i.e. it's a mark against the company, ot against the hire.)