Not sure why people say this. In the US, you can get a 200k USD job without any RSUs/bonuses/options, all in base salary, and these jobs won't be over 40 hours a week. I see it among my friends daily. And in FAANG, it's even higher, I've seen offers for people only with a few years of experience at 350k or more (RSU appreciation mainly, not base salary).

It's more that people don't really believe the high salaries and think that there must be some catch. In reality, there isn't, it's just that software is eating the world and thus companies must pay for talent.