Layoffs are always difficult, but some of the recent cutbacks have been messier than usual. Some JPMorgan employees learned that people from Bear Stearns would get their jobs before the bosses said anything. JPMorgan clients told them first.

Some Lehman Brothers investment bankers found out their jobs were in peril when they saw cardboard boxes and dumpster bins in the hallways in March.

And when Bank of America dismissed some bankers recently, it told them that their annual bonuses had been almost wiped out and that their personal belongings would arrive in the mail. The bank announced many of the layoffs on Feb. 13, two days before many employees would be able to start cashing out stock options.

In January, when Ms. Kennedy was temporarily out of the office at JPMorgan because of surgery, her boss called to say her job had been eliminated. She did not return to her office and ended up asking the bank to send her the photos of her son that she kept on her desk.

“You don’t get to say goodbye to people,” Ms. Kennedy said. “It’s demoralizing.”

At some banks like Bank of America, many laid-off employees are not allowed to return to their desks, because the banks fear departing employees will try to take valuable colleagues or clients with them.

Officials at all of the Wall Street firms declined to comment.

At Credit Suisse, people who were laid off recently were allowed to say goodbye to colleagues. But those who stayed responded with a combination of relief and fear  relief that it wasn’t them, and fear that it might be soon. Many people say they are too worried about keeping their jobs to help friends who are out of work.

“There were mixed emotions because this clearly isn’t the last round,” said an associate who was laid off by Credit Suisse last month. “Banks really aren’t making any money right now, and they haven’t been for a while. There’s only so long you can go and not lay off more people.”