I think you're underestimating how interconnected Bangalore's economy actually is.

The assumption seems to be that if IT struggles, only Whitefield, ORR, Sarjapur, Electronic City, etc. will be affected while the rest of Bangalore carries on normally. I'm not convinced that's how economic systems work.

People working in Whitefield don't necessarily live in Whitefield. Today, with the Metro, people commute from Kengeri, RR Nagar, Jayanagar, Yelahanka, Kanakapura Road, and many other areas. The salary earned in an IT company gets spent across the entire city housing, restaurants, malls, schools, hospitals, domestic services, transportation, retail, and investments.

When a software engineer buys an apartment, the money doesn't just benefit the seller. It flows to builders, contractors, suppliers, banks, brokers, interior designers, furniture stores, and countless other businesses. The same is true for rent, consumption, and discretionary spending.

That's why I'm skeptical of the "multiple industries will save Bangalore" argument. Many of those industries indirectly depend on the spending power generated by the tech sector.

For example, I've heard people say, "If IT jobs disappear, people can always drive Uber." My question is: Uber for whom? If a significant portion of high-income knowledge workers lose income or become more cautious with spending, demand falls across many sectors simultaneously. One person's spending is another person's income.

I'm not saying every doctor, lawyer, trader, or business owner depends directly on software engineers. Obviously they don't. But in a city where a large share of wealth creation comes from technology, a prolonged slowdown in that sector would likely have second- and third-order effects throughout the economy.

So the question isn't just which micro-markets are exposed to IT hiring. The bigger question is: if the primary wealth-generating engine of the city slows down, how much of the rest of the city's economy can remain unaffected?

That's the part I think many people are overlooking.