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While the daily headlines scream of mass layoffs, there are still jobs to be had locally — if you have the right skills.

Segments of the health-care industry have had some slowing — likely due to loss of insurance among the newly unemployed and cautious staffing — but few layoffs.

Local job training executive Hermi Cubillos says career and job prospects in technical fields such as aerospace and the biosciences, including health care, are relatively rosy — and the best bet in the recovery.

"There are jobs in this community," says Cubillos, executive director of JobPath Inc., a non-profit that specializes in upgrading workers' skills to improve their earnings and provide a skilled work force. "The problem is people have to be skilled.

"TREO (Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities) claims there are 2,000 jobs in this community that are unfilled because there aren't skilled workers to fill them."

Cubillos said JobPath sends most of its clients through technical programs at Pima Community College, where they pick up certifications in aircraft repair and maintenance or as medical specialists (including respiratory therapists, dental assistants, certified nursing assistants and licensed practical nurses).

The number of general business and nurse practitioner majors is up at the University of Phoenix, said Gregg Johnson, director of the university's Southern Arizona campuses and a member of the local Workforce Investment Board.

Other than those majors, Johnson said he hasn't seen any great increases in specific fields of study.

"We're seeing a lot of people coming back to finish their degrees," Johnson said.

PCC's aviation technology program remains popular with students looking for training with good job prospects, says Pete Stogsdill, director of PCC's aviation department.

Although he said the demand for his program's students isn't as overwhelming as in past years, he expects every student graduating this month from the school's airframe and powerplant (A&P) mechanics program will have a job.

Most of them, Stogsdill said, will start at $30,000-$35,000 and can work up to as much as six figures in 10 to 15 years. He said the full-time, 19-month A&P mechanics program costs about $8,000, including in-state tuition, books, lab fees and certification testing.

"Up until six months ago, there were five to 10 jobs for each of my graduates," Stogsdill said.

Beyond nursing and entry-level health-care jobs, one major local employer is expanding and hiring to meet growing demand from the health-care industry for tests used to tailor therapies to individual patients.

Ventana Medical Systems, a homegrown Oro Valley biotech company that makes automated diagnostic lab equipment, is expected to hire 300 workers in 2009, said Laura Shaw of TREO.

Ventana, which was acquired last year by Swiss drug giant Roche Holding AG, added more than 100 full-time-equivalent jobs in 2008, boosting the company from 76th to 59th ranking among Star 200 employers.

Shaw said a recent survey of 170 leading local firms showed they expected to hire roughly 2,200 in the coming year, primarily in manufacturing, logistics and aerospace. And she said 60 percent of those jobs required a high school diploma or bachelor's degree.

That part of the survey, she said, raised more questions than it answered. In particular, she said, it raised the question of whether the Tucson work force has the skills it needs to advance workers and the local economy.

Shaw said TREO officials are discussing an inventory of the local work force's skills, which would be of help to local employers — and in recruiting new industry.

Cubillos said the people with technical skills, and the certification to prove it, will be in the best shape when the recovery comes. But although the recovery bill's architects put a lot of stock in solar and alternative fuels, Cubillos is cautious.

"Oh, there are jobs, but you have to be real specific," she says. "Remember when 'optics' was the buzzword? We don't want to train people for jobs that don't exist yet. Until the economy gets better, I don't think alternative-fuels jobs will start popping up."

To date, the only large local hires a year plus into the recession have been for Target's national online order warehouse and call centers. Thousands turned out for Target's three-day February mass hire for 600 jobs at $12.50 an hour.

Afni Inc. and APAC Customer Services, two Star 200-ranked call centers with large Tucson operations, have announced triple-digit hires in recent months.

In February, Afni announced plans to hire 250 for $9 to $9.50 jobs at three Tucson centers.

And earlier this month, APAC said it would hire 450 at $9.50 an hour as "customer care agents" and "support professionals" in Tucson.

About the same time, CyraCom International, a Tucson-based firm that provides real-time medical translation service with centers in Nogales and Las Cruces, N.M., recently announced plans to hire 200-250 interpreters for a new Tucson call center.