If you do not want to spend many years in postdocs, do not mind to move in another country, and speak french fluently you can try to get hired in a french university. Some people get permanent positions right after the thesis, and most of the hired people defended their phD only one or two years before. The competition is harsh, but the postdocs are not mandatory.

If you do not want to spend many years in postdocs, do not mind to move in another country, and speak french fluently you can try to get hired in a french university. Some people get permanent positions right after the thesis, and most of the hired people defended their phD only one or two years before. The competition is harsh, but the postdocs are not mandatory.

Edit in 2017: in the past years, among other things the importation of the postdoc system to France has changed things. Now it is rarer (though possible) to be hired just after PhD, and the competition has become even harsher. Salaries have not increased, so I guess the attractiveness for US applicants might be quite low.