Why is tiktok suggesting people you may know?

I recently got a new job and for obvious reasons, I want to keep my work life and social life separate as much as possible. Now I have every privacy feature tiktok offers on unsync such as contacts/phone number and other social media. Why today have I noticed my coworker(s) as "people you may know"? What type of privacy is this if you're going to suggest people I am around daily? How would tiktok even know? This is frustrating because I can have absolutely no privacy between my social media and family members/ work life and has to be a legality issue.