Jaguar Land Rover could lose out on talent if it doesn’t respond to other employers’ efforts to mitigate the effect of higher tuition fees, according to its manager for HR process and recruitment.

Sarah Herd told Recruiter that the company could miss out on talent if it failed to respond like other major employers.

From September 2012, GSK will pay tuition fees up to £27,000 for up to 100 undergraduates tuition fees and other costs, while KPMG will pay a salary while recruits study for an accountancy qualification. “I think it is something that we will have to consider given the changes in university funding,” said Herd.

This year Jaguar Land Rover doubled the numbers of graduates it intends to recruit this year to 280. Herd said it was unlikely the company would provide tuition fee funding for this number of graduates. “Cost is an issue,” she said. “We would look at particular areas where there is more of a shortage of skills [such as electrical engineering] and not necessarily across the whole of the graduate scheme.”

Jaguar Land Rover already offers 25, £1,500 bursaries to undergraduates, aimed particularly at attracting electrical engineers.