Skagway’s largest private employer announced over the weekend it’s laying off dozens of employees. White Pass and Yukon Route told its Skagway-based workforce their jobs had been eliminated.

White Pass and Yukon Route, the tourist railroad that runs small trains up 67.5-miles of historic track, sent a letter on February 5, 2021 to its employees with dire news. It was “abolishing” 27 jobs.

Many of them had been employed by the tourist rail for decades, including Jackie Schaefer, has cleaned the coaches for 20 years. 

“I got a phone call that my job was gone, that they would no longer keep us even on the books, and that I could reapply when jobs open back up,” she said.

She says she’s losing her company insurance and wasn’t ready to retire, so she’s grateful her husband is still employed at White Pass. 

“My unemployment will run for a while, and then I’m going to be forced into retirement. Because I don’t have another job. There are no jobs here. And we are not moving,” said Shaefer.

She said she feels let down. But says that’s the danger of having an economy dependent on one sector. 

“Our city has put us in a position where we put all of our eggs in one basket, you know, and now we’re paying for it. So we put tourism at the top of our list, and now we’re paying for that,” she said.

Skagway’s elected officials say there are no easy answers.

“We’re going to have to figure out some really outside of the box ways to survive as a community,” said Mayor Andrew Cremata.

He says the layoffs underscore how badly Skagway needs to find employment for its year-round residents. Skagway’s economy is reliant on tourism and most tourists access the remote town via cruise ships. 

Skagway lost most of its leisure and hospitality jobs between June of 2019 and June of 2020, when the cruise season was effectively cancelled by restrictions and port closures.  This month Canada announced it was extending its closure of ports to large cruise ships into early next year. That effectively canceled another Alaska cruise season. 

“The economy’s already devastated. You know, I look at this situation from a more holistic perspective, you know, we need jobs here. That is the number one thing, the only way we’re going to survive into a 2022 season is if we keep people here in Skagway,” he said.

Representatives from White Pass declined an interview, but released a statement on Saturday saying it was doing what it could to survive. It pointed to the “devastating effects” the pandemic has had on Skagway’s economy.

The tour railroad is jointly owned by Survey Point Holdings in Ketchikan and Carnival Corporation. Representatives declined to answer questions about its losses due to the pandemic. The company hasn’t said whether it will operate the tourist railroad without cruise ships. 

The municipality of Skagway is holding a Town Hall meeting at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, February 10th, to discuss the economic hardship from a second season without cruise visitors.