I am not sure that the soothing discourse of vendors about “easy administration” goes the right way. When I read in Oracle’s “2 Day DBA” guide

Prior knowledge or experience with managing databases is not required. The only requirement is a basic knowledge of computers.

I can just wonder. Everything would no doubt be perfect if we were living in a world where things just keep rolling the way they are, where volumes increase just slowly, where no one does any mistake and where DBMS products have no bug. Unfortunately, in a world where databases are often the nexus of information systems and where Murphy’s law rules, database administration often requires a bit more knowledge than being able to locate Ctrl, Alt and Del on the keyboard.
Good skills are as required as ever - and possibly more than ever. Automation only affects the boring, routine part of the job. But IT departments will suffer if the DBA (or, for that matter, any IT staff) image is destroyed.
Working as a DBA used to be an enviable career, for University graduates as much as for self-taught IT professionals. Welcome to the days where basic computer skills will decide of a career as a DBA or as a hamburger-flipper.