Arthur Sulzberger Jr. (seen above in this November 10, 2016, file photo), the publisher of The New York Times, circulated a memo to staff on Friday announcing the re-design of the newspaper's office space

It appears The Gray Lady is doing some belt-tightening.

Citing a need to generate revenue and cut costs, The New York Times circulated a memo to its employees on Friday announcing that it would vacate at least eight of the floors that it occupies in its 52-story skyscraper in midtown Manhattan, according to Politico.

The paper's publisher, Arthur Sulzberger Jr., and its president and CEO, Mark Thompson, informed staff on Friday that it will reconfigure its newsroom and office space so that it could then rent the eight vacated floors.

'We've made the decision to consolidate our footprint across the building to create a more dynamic, modern and open workplace, one that is better suited to the moment,' the memo read.

'We're planning significant investments in a redesign of our existing space in order to facilitate more cross-departmental collaboration. We expect a substantial financial benefit as well. All told, we will vacate at least eight floors, allowing us to generate significant rental income.'

The re-design will effectively eliminate the corner offices that belong to Sulzberger and Thompson, which they noted were 'vestiges from a different era.'

While the renovations are done, the newspaper will relocate 400 of its staff to a temporary office space nearby.

The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2017.

The New York Times Company, the newspaper's corporate parent, occupies the 2nd to 21st floors of the building, which is owned jointly by the company and real estate developer Forest City Ratner Companies.

The 52-story office tower in midtown Manhattan (above) is jointly owned by The New York Times Company and real estate developer Forest City Ratner Companies

Prior to Friday's announcement, the Times occupied 628,000 gross square feet of office space.

Last month, the Times reported a sharp decline in revenue from print advertising.

In its quarterly earnings report, the newspaper said its print edition ad revenue fell 18.5 percent. Overall, advertising revenue at the company dropped 7.7 percent to $124.9million.

Executives at the newspaper expect ad revenue to continue to decline, though the Times did note with satisfaction that it has seen an increase in the number of digital subscribers.

Nonetheless, the newspaper has implemented a series of cost-cutting measures in recent years, shrinking the newsroom by laying off staff and closing foreign offices like the one in Paris, according to Politico.