diff --git a/manifests/init.pp b/manifests/init.pp
index 264ff64a..b86b06ad 100644
--- a/manifests/init.pp
+++ b/manifests/init.pp
@@ -135,6 +135,14 @@
 # @param service_ensure
 #   Specify if Pulp services should be running or stopped.
 #
+# @param content_service_worker_count
+#   Number of pulpcore-content service workers for gunicorn to use.
+#   Modifying this parameter should be done incrementally with benchmarking at each step to determine an optimal value for your deployment.
+#
+# @param api_service_worker_count
+#   Number of pulpcore-api service workers for gunicorn to use.
+#   Modifying this parameter should be done incrementally with benchmarking at each step to determine an optimal value for your deployment.
+#
 # @example Default configuration
 #   include pulpcore
 #
@@ -178,6 +186,8 @@
   Integer[0] $worker_count = min(8, $facts['processors']['count']),
   Boolean $service_enable = true,
   Boolean $service_ensure = true,
+  Integer[0] $content_service_worker_count = (2*min(8, $facts['processors']['count']) + 1),
+  Integer[0] $api_service_worker_count = 1,
 ) {
   $settings_file = "${config_dir}/settings.py"
 
diff --git a/templates/pulpcore-api.service.erb b/templates/pulpcore-api.service.erb
index caac3b84..70a65150 100644
--- a/templates/pulpcore-api.service.erb
+++ b/templates/pulpcore-api.service.erb
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ Group=<%= scope['pulpcore::group'] %>
 WorkingDirectory=<%= scope['pulpcore::user_home'] %>
 RuntimeDirectory=pulpcore-api
 ExecStart=/usr/libexec/pulpcore/gunicorn pulpcore.app.wsgi:application \
+          -w <%= scope['pulpcore::api_service_worker_count'] %> \
           --access-logfile -
 ExecReload=/bin/kill -s HUP $MAINPID
 ProtectSystem=full
diff --git a/templates/pulpcore-content.service.erb b/templates/pulpcore-content.service.erb
index af52a8f7..6bbabe35 100644
--- a/templates/pulpcore-content.service.erb
+++ b/templates/pulpcore-content.service.erb
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ WorkingDirectory=<%= scope['pulpcore::user_home'] %>
 RuntimeDirectory=pulpcore-content
 ExecStart=/usr/libexec/pulpcore/gunicorn pulpcore.content:server \
           --worker-class 'aiohttp.GunicornWebWorker' \
-          -w 2 \
+          -w <%= scope['pulpcore::content_service_worker_count'] %> \
           --access-logfile -
 ExecReload=/bin/kill -s HUP $MAINPID
 SyslogIdentifier=pulpcore-content