Back in the 80's and 90's there were a handful of academics thinking about quantitative finance and no programs oriented at creating that sort of person, so of course you could walk out of your no-future physics PhD and get a quant job easily.
Since then there has been a shake-out ad you've actually got to be world class at something in particular if you want a quant job.
Many "quants" are now people who do algorithmic trading on their own accounts, the way people did day trading in the 90's. This may sound glamorous but it is definitely a business that comes and goes. You need a LOT of capital to do it safely, and most people blow up at least one account in the process of becoming good at trading.
Back in the 80's and 90's there were a handful of academics thinking about quantitative finance and no programs oriented at creating that sort of person, so of course you could walk out of your no-future physics PhD and get a quant job easily.
Since then there has been a shake-out ad you've actually got to be world class at something in particular if you want a quant job.
Many "quants" are now people who do algorithmic trading on their own accounts, the way people did day trading in the 90's. This may sound glamorous but it is definitely a business that comes and goes. You need a LOT of capital to do it safely, and most people blow up at least one account in the process of becoming good at trading.