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State of Devs 2026

Career

Your career and work experience up to now.

Yıllık Deneyim

Junior developers did not participate in the survey as much this year around, with only 9% of respondents having 4 years of professional experience or less.

It will be interesting to see how this AI-native generation of developers evolves going forward, but for now at least the vast majority of respondents had their professional start in a pre-AI world.

Bu alanı ne kadar süredir öğreniyorsunuz veya ne kadar süredir bu alanda çalışıyorsunuz?
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
1
0-4 years
464
2
5-9 years
1,348
3
10-14 years
1,249
4
15-19 years
864
5
20-24 years
649
6
25-29 years
417
7
Over 30 years
365
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
5,356
98%
14.4 yrs
12 yrs
10

Employer Count

Looking at correlations for this question reveals a strong correlation for having worked for more employers, and reporting more workplace issues.

While this could simply be due to respondents experiencing more issues over time, another factor could also be junior hires lacking the perspective to identify problematic behaviors in the first place.

How many employers have you worked for up to now?
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
1
1
964
2
2
898
3
3
923
4
4
698
5
5
565
6
6-10
1,024
7
11-20
155
8
Over 20
69
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
5,296
97%
39.3
3
10

Employment Status

While 53% of company employees have seen their income increase over the past year, freelancers on the other hand have not been so lucky, with only 32% of them seeing a positive evolution.
What is your current employment status?
Multiple
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
1
Company employee
3,976
2
Freelancer/self-employed
1,110
3
Unemployed
+1
419
4
CEO/Founder/Entrepreneur
+1
355
5
Öğrenci
-2
261
6
Emekli
37
7
Other Answers
53
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
5,385
99%
1.1
10
26%
Difference in the percentage of men vs. women/non-binary respondents who reported experiencing discrimination throughout their career.

Workplace Issues

Apart from job insecurity itself, discrimination stands out as the issue most likely to make respondents think they'll have to change jobs in the near future.

It's also interesting to see how factors such as gender can affect workplace issues. For example, while men reported 4.2 different issues on average, women and non-binary respondents checked 4.8 items.

Which of these workplace issues have you experienced throughout your professional career?
Multiple
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
01
Bad management
3,374
02
Burnout
3,344
03
Work-life balance issues
3,114
04
Boredom
+6
2,905
05
Job insecurity
+1
2,578
06
Mental health issues
-1
2,551
07
Insufficient wages
-3
2,452
08
Harassment
-1
813
09
Discrimination
-1
678
10
🚫 Yok
-1
243
11
Other Answers
64
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
5,352
98%
4.3
10
20%
Difference in the percentage of men vs. women/non-binary respondents who reported having sought therapy due to workplace issues.

Discrimination

Age is the most commonly reported discrimination factor, but looking at the additional comments left by respondents, it seems it can cut both ways: respondents mentioned both being overlooked for looking too young, and discounted for being too old.

It's also worth pointing out that discrimination can have many forms, and sometimes even pro-diversity initiatives can have negative impacts on the people they're meant to help. As one respondent pointed out, “beinging the token woman is exhausting. I'm expected to be in employer marketing material and provide opinions on all things DEI without compensation”.

Finally, picking more items for this question is correlated with experiencing more ongoing health issues, which is another reminder that workplace issues do not happen in a vacuum.

Have you ever experienced discrimination in the workplace based on any of the following factors?
Multiple
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
01
🚫 Yok
3,220
02
Age
601
03
Gender or gender identity
465
04
Country of origin
+6
323
05
Disabilities
-1
289
06
Physical appearance or characteristics
+5
279
07
Political beliefs or affiliations
-2
245
08
Race
-2
185
09
Caregiving responsibilities
-2
128
10
Sexual orientation
-2
126
11
Religion or spiritual beliefs
-2
114
12
Other Answers
64
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
4,761
87%
1.8
10

Workplace Responses

While 33% of male respondents declared never having to take any action in response to workplace issues, that figure falls to 18% when looking at non-men.

Across the board, the most common responses are avoiding colleagues, changing your own behavior, or simply resigning. But no matter which strategy respondents adopted, these were all reported at higher rates among non-men.

Have you taken any of the following actions in response to workplace issues?
Multiple
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
01
Avoided colleagues
1,659
02
🚫 Yok
+1
1,571
03
Resigned
-1
1,548
04
Changed behavior
1,201
05
Sought therapy
1,016
06
Taken time off
828
07
Taken medication
827
08
Reported issue to HR
789
09
Reduced work hours
689
10
Requested transfer
496
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
5,034
92%
2.9
10

Layoffs

While the majority of respondents have never been laid off, we can see affirmative responses slowly creep up compared to last year (with the usual caveat that this could also be due to the respondent pool chaning from year to year).
Have you ever been laid off?
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
1
Yes, during the past 12 months
494
2
Yes, sometimes before that
1,325
3
I've never been laid off
3,480
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
5,299
97%
10

Job Security
✨

While AI anxiety and industry burnout play a part here, for now at least traditional workplace issues are still the main factors making respondents worry for their jobs.
Within the next 5 years, how likely do you think it is that you will have to change jobs due to reasons beyond your control?
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
1
Very unlikely
640
2
Somewhat unlikely
1,074
3
Equally likely/unlikely
1,346
4
Somewhat likely
1,225
5
Very likely
1,025
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
5,310
97%
3.2
3
10

Career Security
✨

Most respondents still consider a forced career change unlikely, which shows developers don't quite buy the narrative that they'll soon find themselves replaced with AI, and forced to work the land for their subsistence–at least not just yet.
Within the next 5 years, how likely do you think it is that you will have to change careers due to reasons beyond your control?
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
1
Very unlikely
1,243
2
Somewhat unlikely
1,422
3
Equally likely/unlikely
1,273
4
Somewhat likely
956
5
Very likely
440
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
5,334
98%
2.6
3
10