diff --git a/lib/delayed/worker.rb b/lib/delayed/worker.rb
index bc0baea..123badc 100644
--- a/lib/delayed/worker.rb
+++ b/lib/delayed/worker.rb
@@ -88,14 +88,20 @@ def work_off(num = 100)
 
       while total < num
         start = clock_time
+        say "Attempting to reserve up to #{num - total} job(s)", 'debug'
         jobs = reserve_jobs
+        say 'No jobs reserved; exiting work_off loop', 'debug' if jobs.empty?
         break if jobs.empty?
 
         total += jobs.length
-        pool = Concurrent::FixedThreadPool.new(jobs.length)
+        say "Reserved #{jobs.length} job(s); dispatching batch", 'debug'
+        pool = Concurrent::FixedThreadPool.new(thread_pool_size(jobs.length))
         jobs.each do |job|
+          job_say job, 'Queued for thread execution', 'debug'
           pool.post do
+            thread_started = false
             self.class.lifecycle.run_callbacks(:thread, self) do
+              thread_started = true
               success.increment if perform(job)
             rescue DeserializationError => e
               handle_unrecoverable_error(job, e)
@@ -103,16 +109,19 @@ def work_off(num = 100)
               handle_erroring_job(job, e)
             end
           rescue Exception => e # rubocop:disable Lint/RescueException
-            say "Job thread crashed with #{e.class.name}: #{e.message}", 'error'
+            handle_thread_error(job, e, thread_started)
           end
         end
 
+        say 'Waiting for worker threads to finish', 'debug'
         pool.shutdown
         pool.wait_for_termination
+        say "Batch finished with #{success.value} successful job(s) out of #{total} attempted so far", 'debug'
 
         break if stop? # leave if we're exiting
 
         elapsed = clock_time - start
+        say format('Batch elapsed %.4f seconds', elapsed), 'debug'
         interruptable_sleep(self.class.min_reserve_interval - elapsed)
       end
 
@@ -215,6 +224,16 @@ def handle_unrecoverable_error(job, error)
       failed(job)
     end
 
+    def handle_thread_error(job, error, thread_started)
+      phase = thread_started ? 'after perform' : 'before perform'
+      job_say job, "thread crashed #{phase} with #{error.class.name}: #{error.message}", 'error'
+      return if thread_started
+
+      handle_erroring_job(job, error)
+    rescue Exception => inner_error # rubocop:disable Lint/RescueException
+      job_say job, "could not record pre-perform thread crash: #{inner_error.class.name}: #{inner_error.message}", 'error'
+    end
+
     # The backend adapter may return either a list or a single job
     # In some backends, this can be controlled with the `max_claims` config
     # Either way, we map this to an array of job instances
@@ -235,6 +254,17 @@ def reload!
       Rails.application.reloader.reload! if defined?(Rails.application.reloader) && Rails.application.reloader.check!
     end
 
+    def thread_pool_size(job_count)
+      return job_count unless Delayed::Job.respond_to?(:connection_pool)
+
+      pool_size = Delayed::Job.connection_pool.size
+      return job_count unless pool_size
+
+      [job_count, [pool_size - 1, 1].max].min
+    rescue StandardError
+      job_count
+    end
+
     def clock_time
       Process.clock_gettime(Process::CLOCK_MONOTONIC)
     end