Can I activate my Apple Watch without two factor authentication?

"Is there a way to active an Apple product without this nonsense"

No

"or am I going to be forced to chunk this Apple watch and move to a company that doesn't require me to jump through hoops to use their stuff?"

Yes

Why are you opposed to using 2FA? Most websites and apps are moving to 2FA or Passkeys these days because people (possibly you) are lackadaisical about passwords and don't really care about their personal data security. And for what it's worth Android watch makers are doing the same thing so good luck with that. And Android watches cannot pair to an iPhone either if your company phone is an iPhone.

You should absolutely NOT link ANY personal devices to company owned device or accounts linked to company email accounts or apple accounts.

That is a very, very bad idea.

If you want to use an Apple Watch that you own, buy your own personal iPhone.

To me the “my way or the highway” types are an interesting clan. Go buy your other watch as no one here in these user-to-user forums cares what products you use. No one here works for Apple and Apple Support does not monitor these forums.

You could also submit feedback to Apple

Feedback - Watch - Apple

And when you “chuck” your Apple watch make sure you properly prepare it for gifting, reselling, or trade-in so the new user doesn’t find it in Activation Lock and unable to use it. Do the right thing.

What's pathetic is that you can't be bothered to learn the first thing about a tech product before you spend your money on it.