Stack Overflow survey: 45% of developers burned out, 17% fear AI replacement

Stack Overflow surveyed 30,000 developers across 169 countries. 45.1% described themselves as "complacent" in their roles, 32.6% as "unhappy," and 21.1% cited burnout or fatigue as the main cause. AI assistants and agents are used by 65.9%, while 17.2% avoid AI tools and 17% fear being replaced by them.

• 45.1% of developers are "complacent" at work, 32.6% "unhappy," 22.3% "happy"
• 21.1% cite burnout or fatigue as the main cause of dissatisfaction
• 65.9% use AI assistants and agents, 17.2% do not use AI tools
• 17% worry AI coding tools may replace them