This may be excessively paranoid, but are there any privacy or security concerns with connecting it directly to my home network?
For example, isn't there a risk that the company could be monitoring the traffic on my local network?
Also I regularly do work through an employer managed Google Workspace account that's logged in on the system.
Given that my public IP is one way that Google targets and matches devices, that could mean that the recommended YouTube content for my corporate Google account would match my private and personal account that is associated with the same IP. And it should be possible for an administrator at my company to access my work account and see that profile.
Are there any recommendations for combating those concerns?
I can't use a personal VPN client on my company laptop, and it's not possible for me to move away from my personal Google account or work from a cafe.
Try going to YouTube in private mode. Personally I always use YouTube this way to avoid being pigeonholed.
EDIT: I've exceeded my post quota for today so here's my reply: That's interesting. I've moved ~4 times and have used different ISPs since I started this habit. Perhaps your private session wasn't restarted? In Firefox you have to close all of the private windows before you get a fresh cookie jar etc. It might also be that you don't deviate far from the popular videos. Every time I start a new private session there isn't a single recommendation that matches what I normally watch.
It's still possible that your employer might use their laptop's WiFi, Bluetooth, microphone or camera to do various nefarious things, but ... unless you're genuinely worried about nation-state level shenanigans, I think that'd be excessively excessively paranoid.
Either way: distrusting your employer this much might indicate that it's time for a new job?
Modem <-> personal router <-> work router
Connect your work computer to the work router and it will be the only thing on that network.