Both Uses

colleague
in
Me Before You
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Going to the wedding of an ex seemed a masochistic att at the best of times, but to go to a public gathering, one that would be full of his old friends and work colleagues, to watch her marry his former friend, seemed to me a surefire route to depression.†
p. 280.5

colleagues = fellow workers -- especially in a respected profession such as teaching, medicine, or law
Or pole-danced for their business colleagues, I thought, remembering my interviews at the Job Center.†
p. 284.6 *

Definitions:

(1) (colleague)
fellow worker -- especially in a respected profession such as teaching, medicine, or law
(2) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)