This study examined how entrepreneur action strategies influence employee job characteristics in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The researchers surveyed 550 employees across 47 SMEs, measuring job demands, control, and the entrepreneurs' proactive planning and opportunistic strategies. Multi-level analyses found that job characteristics varied significantly across firms and that proactive planning was linked to "active jobs" with high demands and control, while opportunistic strategies predicted "high strain jobs" with high demands and low control. Thus, entrepreneur strategies have a meaningful impact on employee work experiences, and educating entrepreneurs could help build healthier organizations.