In order to get yourself out of trouble, on a dirty wet night, on something like a B737-200 then Yes, a high degree of hand flying skills is necessary as the 'automatics' on a -200 are laughable.
The more sophisticated/automated the aircraft then the more knowledge and use of automatics is desirable as such an aircraft is designed to be flown automatically and recovery from abnormal ops. will be written around use of automatics, manual input could screw the whole thing up!
That said, most glass cockpits have the ability to show an HSI, DME and NDB and any pilot should maintain competency and be able to fly even the most complicated SID or approach and arrival, in IMC, by hand, provided they get the necessary support from the other seat, who must also be up to speed, unless, of course, a big heavy type note on the chart actually says word to the effect, "To be flown using only the automated systems" - Never seen such a note yet!.
Last edited by parabellum; 9th Jan 2010 at 10:40.