The only things I can think of to explain it is that people are looking at a very narrow slice of the industry (the FAANGs) where things are rough right now, or people are asking for more compensation than the market will support.
But I don't know. There does seem to be a disconnect somewhere, though.
I don't want to speak ill of him but he's the kind of TC/resume-maxxing type — has to work at top 10 company on "impressive" technology (ML, now AI). He did well on interviews and had offers but kept rejecting or stalling because it wasn't impressive enough. He was living at home so he could afford to do this.
I just took the first job I found that paid slightly more and I liked. I can interview again in a year if I don't like it.