Zero-hours contracts - vital for flexibility or exploitative?

The contrasting reactions to Vince Cable's announcement that the Government is launching a consultation on zero hours contracts but will not ban them because they offer "welcome flexibility" for some workers, offer some good opportunity for stakeholder analysis. The report linked here summarises the government's analysis of the advantages and disadvantages, emphasising the benefits of flexibility for both employers and workers, but also the need to ensure fairness and transparency in the labour market. Here you have the differing viewpoints of employers, from the Institute of Directors and

Then you have the differing viewpoints of several stakeholders: employers, from the Institute of Directors and British Chambers of Commerce, employees, represented by the TUC and a national officer of the GMB union, and 'competitors' in the guise of the Shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna. All that is lacking is some evaluation of how important they are to economic recovery, but that could be added by students in response to a question like "Evaluate the role of zero hours contracts in the UK economy in 2014".