The Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram announced today that several employees have been laid off and that there will be changes to the layout of the paper in an effort to cut costs.

Two union employees lost their jobs, as did an undisclosed number of managers, according to company officials.

The number of layoffs was far lower than expected because a number of employees volunteered to take unpaid time off.

"We were able to save a number of positions," said Charles C. Cochrane, president of Blethen Maine Newspapers, Inc., which publishes the Portland Press Herald and two newspapers in central Maine.

Several of the changes are to the Sunday paper. Starting this weekend, the Maine/New England section will be part of the A-section, the TV listings will be reduced, and the Outdoors section news will be published in Thursday's paper.

The paper is eliminating the York/Your Neighbors section, reducing the size of the opinion-editorial page and making Friday's Press Herald a two-section newspaper with local news folded into the A-section.

"We regret having to make any changes, but we think these by and large will have minimal reader impact" Cochrane said. "But when revenues are decreasing, we have to find ways to respond to that. We've tried to be as thoughful and careful as possible."

Cochrane declined to put a figure on the amount saved through the changes, but noted that the majority of savings would come from lower newsprint, ink and labor costs.

Editor Jeannine Guttman said there would be a reduction in wire stories and more local coverage after the changes.

"Our franchise is local news," Guttman said. "That mission hasn't changed. We're committed to giving readers the best reported newspaper in the state."

Last month, the newspaper had announced the need for another round of layoffs to compensate for a projected $1.2 million shortfall in advertising revenue. This is the fourth round of layoffs at the company in the past 12 months and the third round this year.

In the last round, which took effect in July 1, the company cut 36 jobs. Twenty-five of those employees accepted voluntary severance packages, six employees were laid off, and five jobs vacated by prior resignations were left unfilled.

The Press Herald and its MaineToday.com division have about 400 employees.

Newspaper Guild President Tom Bell said union employees volunteered to take more than 400 shifts off unpaid to save jobs. The exact number of jobs saved through the effort was unclear, he said.

"Going into this, there were 20 Guild positions (that would be cut), now there are two," he said. "I think this shows a lot of solidarity among our work force."