In this competitive labour market, employers seek to attract not just good employees but the very best. That helps explain why there can be a wide pay gap between those seen as being at the very top of their game and those just behind. Technology also tends to serve as a complement for high-skilled workers, making them potentially even more valuable - think of financial traders who can carry out transactions worth billions of dollars at the touch of a button. But there are limits to how much of the rise of the 1% can be explained by technology.