The critical phases of flight, ie taxi, takeoff and landing are still manually controlled as ever they were, perhaps with the very occasional exception when low visibility procedures are in force for autoland. The same manual handling skills are therefore in evidence most days - and arguably more so on days when the wind is blowing as AS alluded to. Most professional airline pilots based in the UK would argue handling skills are still pretty important after the winter we've just had.
I've always felt the real skill though is in effective management, especially of failures, which have become increasingly complex with the advert of new aircraft.
All this while flying more sectors and hours than ever before.