In the past several years many young physicists have held and then left academic positions as top U.S. research universities. These physicists of the 1970’s have been thrust into quite a different world than their colleagues in the halycon days of the 1960’s. Facing limited opportunities for stable academic research careers, they have followed a broad variety of career paths ranging from small colleges to industrial corporations. Some paths have led out of physics completely. A series of APS studies conducted in 1976‐1977 delved into the experiences of many of these physicists, examining both the difficulties encountered and the new avenues they have explored. The studies indicate that the search for stable positions has frequently proven hard and misdirected, leaving for some a lingering bitterness. Yet the same studies show that most of these physicists have found or created exciting and stimulating new roles and positions for themselves.