Significant job losses will be announced today at the Apple plant in Cork. However, earlier predictions that 500 jobs will be lost now appear to be exaggerated, with the company expected to announce that it is reducing its workforce by between 100 and 200 people.

Mr Tim Cook, a senior vice president of Apple's world wide operations, will brief the company's employees today on the future of the plant.

Mr Harry Carroll, a senior spokesman for SIPTU, confirmed yesterday he had been told job cuts were on the way.

His comments followed a meeting with Mr Ronald Long, assistant secretary at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, who accompanied the Tanaiste, Ms Harney, during her visit to Apple headquarters in California last week.

According to many Apple sources in Cork, the computer giant is already preparing to move its printed circuit board (PCB) facility - in which 500 people are employed - to the Far East, where turmoil in the Asian economy offers new opportunities in terms of low wages and an available workforce.

However, the announcement of the closure of the PCB facility is likely to be accompanied by new developments in Cork, related to Apple's new computer, the iMac. It is expected that some of the employees from the PCB plant will be reallocated to the rest of the operation, while a voluntary redundancy programme will be offered to reduce the numbers. ail yesterday the Tanaiste, Ms Harney, said that her meeting with Apple in the US "went much better than anticipated." Referring to speculation of 500 job losses , she said: " I do not think this will happen." Apple Cork will continue as a strategic part of the group, she said. Mr Carroll said the advice to SIPTU from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment was that there would be job losses but that the Tanaiste's visit to the US had also had a positive side. The union was assured, he added, that as long as Apple remained in business, there would be a plant in Cork. A commitment was also given that, if possible, Apple's latest computer - the iMac - would be built partially in Cork.

The Cork facility has been Apple's flagship operation in Europe and one of the city's major employers with a pay roll of 1,800 full-time and temporary staff. Its establishment in 1980 was a major coup for the IDA when it began production with only 100 staff. The plant size then was 40,000 sq ft. In 1983, it grew to 88,000 sq ft, job numbers rose and, when Apple launched its Macintosh computer in Cork, in 1984, the future of the plant looked assured.

The plant facility now under threat - printed circuit boards - was opened in 1988 when the plant size grew to 340,000 sq ft. In 1990, Apple adopted a policy of high-volume, low-cost sales and increased business by 70 per cent. In 1991, it launched its Powerbook range and achieved the IS0 9002 award for excellence.

The year after, research and development and software testing was introduced in Cork. The company converted to even more high-tech systems in 1994 and in 1995 Apple was talking about expanding its Cork plant.

However, amid falling sales, Apple's global fortunes have been in decline for several years as the computer industry had undergone fundamental change.