Current and ex-employees air gripes online

A new Web site allows workers to rate their company — and comment on their own layoff

With more than 200,000 U.S. workers laid off in January alone, more and more people are heading online to escape, search for new jobs or commiserate with their fellow unemployed.

That’s where Telonu.com comes in. Telonu — “tell on you” — allows users to read and write about their experiences working at or being laid off from a company. Free membership to the site has jumped by 50 to 100 percent almost every day, and unique users have risen by about 3,000 percent in the last two months, says site founder and CEO Bari Abdul.

Launched in December, the site allows users to post their stories and ratings anonymously, either about a particular company — Microsoft, Cisco Systems, Google and McAfee are some of the most popular — or their gripes in general.

Comments range from biting to more understanding. Of Hewlett-Packard, a former employee wrote: “THE WORST company I’ve EVER worked for. It was a blessing to be laid off.”