Probably refers more to corporate real estate interests. Just because people stop commuting to work doesn’t mean they will stop eating out. Maybe they won’t be located in the same places, but there will still be demand for food, coffee, etc. What doesn’t persist is the demand for giant corporate offices, and so there are some people who would be stuck holding some massive bags if the office real estate demand becomes permanently reduced.
I had interpreted "parasitically feeding off of people commuting to work" to referring to those corporate managers. But certainly one could expand this to include all those who provide products and services in our economy. In fact, one could expand it to include the entire human race which is a parasite on this plant.
You mean people who work in the coffee shop down the block so you can get your $7 latte on the way to the office?
Quite the interesting definition of ‘parasitically’ if you do.