I've had a couple of interesting experiences lately, and it has me wondering, how do companies fill positions when they have below-market compensation budgets?

1. I had a recruiter reach out to me about a role with a company. She said that they were going to finalize everything in the next couple days, and she would send me the job description (I've worked with her once before.) A few days later, she said that the company had found their own candidate. However, a couple days after that, HR reaches out to me from that company via LinkedIn and asks if I am interested. I talk with them, and I find out that their compensation budget is a little below market given the amount of experience that they want, so I pass. A few months later, I get another recruiter from a different firm asking if I am interested in the role. It looks like they weren't able to fill it in 4 months.
2. A recruiter reaches out to me about a role. I agree to send the company my resume. 3 months later, they ask me for an interview. I ask the recruiter why it took so long to fill the position. It turns out, they had identified two other candidates in the past 3 months, but they both quit either shortly before/after their start date. I go through the interview process and end up getting an offer. Despite having told the recruiter my salary expectations (I had decided other companies in the past over comp.), they come in below by $5,000. I'm a little skeptical because they sound difficult to work for, and they can't keep anyone, so I tell the recruiter to tell them that I want the extra $5k, and they can take-it-or-leave-it. They decided to pass. Later on, I find out that they were finally able to fill the position, 4 months after I interviewed with them, but overall, it took them about 7 months from when they first started looking.
3. Similar to the above, I interviewed with a company through a recruiter. After a few rounds, the recruiter tells me that they have idenitified a stronger candidate for the role. A few weeks later, I see the company posted a similar postion on LinkedIn with a lower title and a lower experience requirement. It was a smaller company, so I doubt that it was "different" position, but rather the same position. My guess is that they realized that candidates at that level wanted more money than they could pay, and the recruiter's commission (20-30%) was more than they could afford in total (similar to story #1).

I keep hearing about how there is a labor shortage, and companies cannot find workers, but my experience is showing me that most companies are being very unrealistic right now, and they are either waiting for someone who is disgruntled or clueless about market salaries. I have even more stories in the past few months, but I don't want to turn this into a rant or saga. What has your experience been lately, and have you experienced something similar?