Purpose

This study aims to examine how job autonomy promotes employee agility in young entrepreneurial ventures through work engagement and founder trust, drawing on the job demands–resources (JD-R) framework.

Design/methodology/approach

We conducted two studies across distinct contexts: a two-wave field survey of employees in young Indian ventures (n = 205) and a survey study through Prolific in the United States of America (n = 184). Confirmatory factor analyses (AMOS) were employed to validate the constructs, and mediation and moderated mediation analyses were conducted using the PROCESS macro in SPSS.

Findings

Results indicate that work engagement mediates the relationship between autonomy and agility. Trust in the founder strengthens the effect of engagement on agility, thereby amplifying the indirect effect of autonomy on agility through engagement. This moderating effect was significant in India but not in the United States of America, suggesting that institutional and cultural contexts condition the influence of trust as a resource.

Practical implications

The findings suggest that the impact of autonomy on agility is buffered by trust and engagement mechanisms. The results highlight the need for context-sensitive practices, with trust playing a greater role in developing economies and collectivist cultures.

Originality/value

This study extends the JD-R theory to entrepreneurial contexts, demonstrating that employee agility emerges from the dynamic interplay of autonomy, engagement and trust, with contextual variations across national settings.