Drexel Headquarters Workers Mad, Gloomy : Securities: As one employee put it, ‘There are a lot of long faces up there, a lot of nervous people.’

The mood was glum and even angry Tuesday at the New York headquarters of the investment banking firm Drexel Burnham Lambert, as workers prepared resumes and waited for their employer to file for bankruptcy protection.

“It looks like it’s over for us,” said one of Drexel’s 5,300 employees. “We were told yesterday (Monday): ‘Look for a job.’ ”

The brokerage firm, which virtually invented the junk bond market, said Tuesday morning that a cash shortage affecting its holding company, Drexel Burnham Lambert Group, had resulted in defaults on about $100 million in loans.

Drexel’s parent, Drexel Burnham Lambert Group Inc., announced late Tuesday that it would seek protection from creditors under Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy code. On Monday, Drexel put itself up for sale in an effort to avoid a financial collapse.

“There are a lot of long faces up there, a lot of nervous people,” said Drexel worker Brian Lynskey. “A lot of people are getting their resumes together--just in case.”

“The death knell has sounded for the large, unmanageable, unwieldly multiservice investment banking firms,” said Steven Seiden of Seiden Associates, an executive search firm. He said he expects to see the emergence of more small investment banking partnerships of 20 to 30 people.

“I hope I find a new job,” said one Drexel equities analyst. “As far as I can tell, Drexel is on its way out of business, and this is a tough market to find work in. I assume most of us will be out of work a long time.”

Disappointment and anger also were evident.

“A lot of people stayed with the firm through thick and thin,” said one former Drexel official. “They were extremely loyal and their management never came clean. Now they’re going to get screwed. It’s like the old saying, ‘If you want a friend on Wall Street, buy yourself a dog.’ ”

Police officers prevented unauthorized entry to Drexel’s headquarters at 60 Broad St., and most people leaving the building in the Wall Street financial district deflected questions fired from a phalanx of reporters and television cameramen lining the sidewalk.

While several brokerage house officials declined to comment on Drexel’s woes, some lower-echelon Wall Streeters offered little sympathy.

“Drexel didn’t make any friends on the way up, so there aren’t too many tears on the way down,” said one trader. “They were such an arrogant firm. They did their own thing and they made their own money. They just took care of their own and didn’t let anybody into their deals.”