It is interesting that most peoples comments say pilots skills are declining (which they may or may not be) - as a result of people relying on automation to much - but if this accident is the result of mismanaged automation - surely more emphasis should be not just on manual skills, but also (and maybe more importantly in this case) learning how to use, manage and operate the automation?
If guys on a 737 don't have manual skills then i'd be surprised (I say this with the caveat that I don't know what sectors, flying hours, and company policy are) - 737's are typically high sector jets with crews getting loads of takeoffs and approaches. (eg my airline we were often doing 4 day trips with 4 to 5 sectors a day - sector for sector b/w Capt and F/O) Using the automation on long multi sector trips is important as you do start getting tired.
Our training departments emphasised initially when I joined the company as much manual operation as possible in the sim...... till they realised nobody knew a great deal about automation..... and to this day the automation is not well understood, nor taught very well particularly VNAV approaches in fleets other than the 737.