Work in a SME if you want to become an entrepreneur ultimately. Select a good boss who has grown from startup to at least >1M in profit annually. Then you will learn something from him or her. Yes, cost consciousness matters a lot and that is why there is much bootstrapping on budgets and multi-tasking before hiring more. But if you intend to be an entrepreneur, then this is the best learning ground as much of what u do and learn will be transferable in your own venture. MNCs i would argue, tend to spoil us.

But if u just want to make a good living, get paid decently, then i think MNC probably better. More structure, generally better pay, more perks etc.

But as a SME owner, i can tell you that being a successful entrepreneur is as good if not better than being a MNC manager/snr mgr in terms of freedom and money. In fact, i would argue the feeling of being able pay for your own business class tickets and have people respect you for what you created from scratch is totally comparable to the respect you get from being part of a branded MNC. Job security is so much better too!

Moreover, if you can transfer to professional management like many of the more famous SME families or if you sell to a MNC, then you are a capital owner who does not even need work. In MNC environment, only regional CEO or global CXOs reach that level as you need to accumulate about $15-20M min over 10 years of work.