World Solve

gig workers without benefits or protections remains one of the most urgent challenges of our time. Systems currently in place are inadequate for the scale and complexity of the problem. A successful approach must work where resources are scarcest and demonstrate clear, measurable results. It should identify possible harms, respect local agency, and show how the solution can be maintained and expanded by the communities it is meant to serve.

Workers lack contracts, benefits, and protections. Gradual formalization and portable benefits can strengthen security.

Platform workers often have no benefits or stability. Regulatory frameworks for gig work can extend protections.

Millions of workers in transport, delivery, and informal retail have no protection against accidents or income shocks. Micro-insurance products linked to daily transactions could extend coverage.

Most informal workers have no employer-based retirement savings, risking poverty in old age as populations age rapidly. Portable, mobile-based voluntary pension schemes could extend coverage to gig and informal workers.

Ride-hailing and delivery platform workers often have no formal contracts, benefits, or dispute-resolution mechanisms. Portable benefits platforms tied to worker digital IDs could extend protections across platforms.

Next-generation telescopes and gigawatt-scale space solar power arrays are too large to fit in single rocket fairings. Highly coordinated multi-robot assembly systems operating in microgravity need to be developed and standardized.

Space-based solar power requires transmitting multi-gigawatt microwave or laser beams safely through Earth's atmosphere. Phased array antenna precision and efficiency losses remain significant engineering bottlenecks.

Beamed light sails intended for Alpha Centauri must reflect 99.999% of laser light to avoid vaporizing instantly under gigawatt power. Metamaterial reflector sails with ultra-low thermal absorption must be created.

Millions of delivery drivers and ride-hailing workers in South and Southeast Asia operate without employment benefits, workplace injury compensation, or collective bargaining rights, leaving them economically precarious.

Gig work can offer flexibility but often comes with unpredictable income swings that make financial planning difficult for workers. A system that offers more income stability without eliminating flexibility remains unresolved.

Millions of people now earn a living through app-based gig work without the healthcare, sick leave, or retirement benefits traditional jobs offer. Extending fair protections to this growing workforce remains largely unresolved.

Gig economy workers in Australia lose access to healthcare and retirement benefits between short-term engagements because current labor protections are tied to single-employer relationships.