Is it the case that companies are actually struggling to fill positions, or are statements to that effect just an aspect of the metagame? There's a ton of stuf

Is it the case that companies are actually struggling to fill positions, or are statements to that effect just an aspect of the metagame? There's a ton of stuff that goes on outside of the actual mechanics of 'company hires for job and person applies for job'. Unless you've been pretty lucky you've almost certainly dealt with euphemisms at work when it comes to discussions around pay, for example. It's kind of annoying that we can't just speak frankly about these things, but such is life.