The Impact of Night Shifts, Tobacco Dependence, Health Awareness, and Depression Risk on Chronic Disease Risk Among Generation Z Overtime Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic

<b>Background/Objectives</b>: the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of remote work, blurring the boundaries between professional and personal life. This shift resulted in longer working hours, negative emotional outcomes, and health issues, particularly among Generation Z employees. This study investigates the links between working overtime, tobacco dependence, night shifts, and chronic disease risk in Generation Z employees during the pandemic while also examining the roles of depression risk and health awareness. A quantitative research approach was used to administer a questionnaire and employ the chi-square test, <i>t</i>-test, and logistic regression analysis to compare overtime-related factors and chronic disease risks. <b>Results</b>: the overtime workers are 1.39 times more likely to develop chronic diseases than those who do not work overtime. The odds ratio (OR) for overtime workers is 1.41, indicating that working overtime is a major risk factor for chronic disease. Among overtime workers, tobacco dependence and depression risk are significantly correlated with the risk of chronic disease, while night shift work is not. Overtime workers' health awareness is significantly correlated with chronic disease risk and has a partial mediating effect on the relationship between tobacco dependence and chronic disease risk. This is due to the strong correlation (<i>p</i> < 0.001) between tobacco dependence and chronic disease, which limits the extent to which health consciousness can mitigate the negative effects of tobacco dependence. <b>Conclusions</b>: these findings highlight the importance of smoking cessation and mental health interventions in reducing the risk of chronic disease for Generation Z workers, particularly in the post-pandemic era.