It is quite sensible that this discussion should not separate along the lines of the autonomies and the hands & legs brigade. Surely the industry should striving to create rounded pilots. Those who can handle both techniques with relaxed aplomb.
Some operators prefer the trained monkeys and have rigid narrow SOP's to ensure that: others encourage crews to be more a pilot than a robot. However, do they have a full understanding of how to use the automatics and when to use them to their best benefit?
What is needed is the middle ground; a pilot who has the ability to do both and the common sense to choose when to do which. That has to come from the training department day 1.
Future pilots may well have a different route to mine. I was brought up in GA and then in a piloting airline who trained and trusted its crews to make the choice I suggested. It was then a little frustrating to join an airline who lent towards the trained monkey method, but did allow those who could to do so. It was always a pleasure to demonstrate and help those who wanted to learn: equally disappointing to be with those who didn't. The real irritation came when the nomadic road took me to a straight-jacketed trained monkey outfit.
There is definitely not an industry wide standard and it will not be achieved unless the authorities stipulate it. What I find astonishing, and curious, is I suspect that many of the TM's fly with high productivity multi-sector per day short-haul operators. You'd expect the opposite, but...........