Lawyers writing the rules?
It seems to me that pilot de-skilling is mostly as a result of the company lawyers dictating policy on the flight deck, I was told recently that in a major UK airline you are no longer allowed to disconnect the auto throttle.
The same person also said that it is most unlikely within that company anyone would do a visual approach on a line check.
If the above is true it would seem that de-skilling is growing in the industry resulting in over reliance on the automatics, it is little wonder the that some airline pilots seem to have less ability to control the speed on approach that is required of a student pilot in an SEP.
The only reason that I can think of for this de-skilling is that the airline lawyers think that in the event of an accident with all the automatics engaged they will be able to shift the blame & liability away from the airline and on to the equipment manufacture/maintenance company's.
I can only thank my luck that I work for a company that lets the pilot management dictate how the aircraft is flown and lets the captain decide the appropriate way fly the aircraft within the SOP's.