Senior EMC staff were honoured at a civic reception last night at which the Lord Mayor of Cork said the firm was a “cornerstone of Cork’s foreign direct investment community”.

A global leader in information technology is expected to announce today that it is to create nearly 200 jobs in Cork.

EMC, the world’s biggest maker of storage computers, plans to buy back $1bn (€770m) in shares this year after reporting first-quarter earnings that missed analysts’ estimates as customers restrained spending.