Do they mean that getting a tenure-track job with a high salary and good startup funds at a reputable R1 university is nearly impossible? Or do they actually mean that getting literally any tenure-track job at any institution is nearly impossible?

I am in the U.S. in a very applied STEM field at a fairly prestigious (borderline top 10) program. In the current class of 5th year students, about half of them have landed some kind of tenure track role, and of the other half, most were interested in going into industry anyways. I have no doubt that tenure track roles are competitive and difficult to land, but I guess I'm trying to better understand specifically what is meant by this sentiment which I often see expressed online by current professors and PhD students.