They use wood because it's cheaper. They're allowed to use wood due to relatively recent code changes. Google 5 over 1 construction for more details.

See this story for interesting details.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2019-02-13/why-ameri...

Just guessing here, but it could be that fire codes used to forbid wood, but then something changed (lobbying, whatever) making wood acceptable. Then construction changed to use wood (again) since it's cheaper than the fire-proof materials.

It's wood, Jim, but not as we know it.

The 'wood' used in tall buildings is a heavily processed product that is indeed pretty fire-resistant.