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In those cases it would be the company that is volunteering, the contribution is still voluntary, and the company is paying someone to volunteer on their behalf.

What does volunteer even mean? Does it just mean not-slavery?

The company is paying an employee to work on a product which their business probably uses in return for publicity, bigger voice in the direction or prioritization of bugs and features, and to ensure stability of the product they depend on

No, it is a common myth that Linux, or many other bazaar-based projects are made by a thousand small, unpaid, helping hands, — perhaps because it sounds romantic.

Most of Linux is indeed the fruit of paid, professional labor.

> The vast majority of contributors seem to be paid. Am I misunderstanding?

Correct.