PORTLAND (AP) – The Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram laid off eight employees Friday, citing falling revenues amid a “seismic shift” in the industry.

Publisher Charles Cochrane said the layoffs were an attempt to “regain some balance” between falling revenues and expenses, even though steps taken earlier in the year have kept costs flat compared to last year.

Cochrane said in a memo to employees that year-to-date revenues were “running well behind last year – and last year’s revenue results were behind the year before.”

In addition to the layoffs, Cochrane said some vacant positions will remain open indefinitely and the company will attempt to contain part-time hours.

Cochrane said the Press Herald and Sunday Telegram face the same challenges as other newspapers, with readers turning to online sources of information and advertisers following them.

The papers will have to deal with the industry transformation for at least the next two years, he said, but “there is good reason to retain a great deal of optimism about our longer-term future.”