The Bishop Museum yesterday confirmed that it will lay off 19 workers and reduce employee work weeks from 40 to 36 hours as it continues to cope with the slumping economy.

In addition to the layoffs, the museum will be closed to the public on Tuesdays beginning May 5 and will close the Hawai'i Maritime Center at Aloha Tower on May 1. These measures are expected to save the Kalihi institution $1.8 million in its next fiscal year budget, the museum said yesterday.

The museum announced on April 10 that it would have to lay off workers because of a drop in visitor arrivals, state grants and poor return on investments. At that time, museum officials did not say how many employees would be involved or what the anticipated savings would be.

The 19 positions represent 8 percent of the museum's staff of 215 and include management and non-management personnel, the museum said.