diff --git a/configs/hecate.example.yaml b/configs/hecate.example.yaml
index df9d904..e1eacea 100644
--- a/configs/hecate.example.yaml
+++ b/configs/hecate.example.yaml
@@ -46,6 +46,9 @@ shutdown:
   default_budget_seconds: 300
   skip_etcd_snapshot: false
   skip_drain: false
+  drain_parallelism: 6
+  scale_parallelism: 8
+  ssh_parallelism: 8
   poweroff_enabled: true
   poweroff_delay_seconds: 25
   poweroff_local_host: true
diff --git a/configs/hecate.tethys.yaml b/configs/hecate.tethys.yaml
index c1c8a74..ea195d1 100644
--- a/configs/hecate.tethys.yaml
+++ b/configs/hecate.tethys.yaml
@@ -63,6 +63,9 @@ shutdown:
   default_budget_seconds: 300
   skip_etcd_snapshot: false
   skip_drain: false
+  drain_parallelism: 6
+  scale_parallelism: 8
+  ssh_parallelism: 8
   poweroff_enabled: true
   poweroff_delay_seconds: 25
   poweroff_local_host: true
diff --git a/configs/hecate.titan-db.yaml b/configs/hecate.titan-db.yaml
index 5f472c4..8d7689e 100644
--- a/configs/hecate.titan-db.yaml
+++ b/configs/hecate.titan-db.yaml
@@ -80,6 +80,9 @@ shutdown:
   default_budget_seconds: 300
   skip_etcd_snapshot: false
   skip_drain: false
+  drain_parallelism: 6
+  scale_parallelism: 8
+  ssh_parallelism: 8
   poweroff_enabled: true
   poweroff_delay_seconds: 25
   poweroff_local_host: true
diff --git a/internal/cluster/orchestrator.go b/internal/cluster/orchestrator.go
index c47c02d..a946f53 100644
--- a/internal/cluster/orchestrator.go
+++ b/internal/cluster/orchestrator.go
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import (
 	"sort"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
+	"sync"
 	"time"
 
 	"scm.bstein.dev/bstein/hecate/internal/config"
@@ -44,6 +45,18 @@ type startupWorkload struct {
 	Name      string
 }
 
+type workloadScaleEntry struct {
+	Namespace string `json:"namespace"`
+	Kind      string `json:"kind"`
+	Name      string `json:"name"`
+	Replicas  int    `json:"replicas"`
+}
+
+type workloadScaleSnapshot struct {
+	GeneratedAt time.Time            `json:"generated_at"`
+	Entries     []workloadScaleEntry `json:"entries"`
+}
+
 var criticalStartupWorkloads = []startupWorkload{
 	{Namespace: "flux-system", Kind: "deployment", Name: "source-controller"},
 	{Namespace: "flux-system", Kind: "deployment", Name: "kustomize-controller"},
@@ -176,6 +189,8 @@ func (o *Orchestrator) Startup(ctx context.Context, opts StartupOptions) (err er
 		}
 	}
 
+	o.bestEffort("restore scaled workloads", func() error { return o.restoreScaledApps(ctx) })
+
 	if err := o.resumeFluxAndReconcile(ctx); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -330,42 +345,278 @@ func (o *Orchestrator) patchFluxSuspendAll(ctx context.Context, suspend bool) er
 }
 
 func (o *Orchestrator) scaleDownApps(ctx context.Context) error {
-	nsOut, err := o.kubectl(ctx, 15*time.Second, "get", "ns", "-o", "jsonpath={range .items[*]}{.metadata.name}{'\\n'}{end}")
+	targets, err := o.listScalableWorkloads(ctx)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	exclude := map[string]struct{}{}
-	for _, ns := range o.cfg.ExcludedNamespaces {
-		exclude[ns] = struct{}{}
+	if err := o.writeScaledWorkloadSnapshot(targets); err != nil {
+		return err
 	}
-	for _, ns := range lines(nsOut) {
-		if _, ok := exclude[ns]; ok {
-			continue
-		}
-		if _, scaleErr := o.kubectl(ctx, 15*time.Second, "-n", ns, "scale", "deployment", "--all", "--replicas=0"); scaleErr != nil {
-			o.log.Printf("warning: scale deployments in %s failed: %v", ns, scaleErr)
-		}
-		if _, scaleErr := o.kubectl(ctx, 15*time.Second, "-n", ns, "scale", "statefulset", "--all", "--replicas=0"); scaleErr != nil {
-			o.log.Printf("warning: scale statefulsets in %s failed: %v", ns, scaleErr)
-		}
+	if len(targets) == 0 {
+		o.log.Printf("scale down apps: no workloads above 0 replicas")
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	parallelism := o.cfg.Shutdown.ScaleParallelism
+	if parallelism <= 0 {
+		parallelism = 8
+	}
+	o.log.Printf("scale down apps targets=%d parallelism=%d", len(targets), parallelism)
+	return o.scaleWorkloads(ctx, targets, 0, parallelism)
+}
+
+func (o *Orchestrator) restoreScaledApps(ctx context.Context) error {
+	snapshot, err := o.readScaledWorkloadSnapshot()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if snapshot == nil || len(snapshot.Entries) == 0 {
+		o.log.Printf("restore scaled workloads: no snapshot entries to restore")
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	parallelism := o.cfg.Shutdown.ScaleParallelism
+	if parallelism <= 0 {
+		parallelism = 8
+	}
+	o.log.Printf("restore scaled workloads entries=%d parallelism=%d snapshot_at=%s", len(snapshot.Entries), parallelism, snapshot.GeneratedAt.Format(time.RFC3339))
+	if err := o.scaleWorkloads(ctx, snapshot.Entries, -1, parallelism); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if o.runner.DryRun {
+		return nil
+	}
+	if err := os.Remove(o.scaledWorkloadSnapshotPath()); err != nil && !os.IsNotExist(err) {
+		return fmt.Errorf("remove scaled workload snapshot: %w", err)
 	}
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (o *Orchestrator) drainWorkers(ctx context.Context, workers []string) error {
-	total := len(workers)
-	for idx, node := range workers {
-		o.log.Printf("drain worker %d/%d: %s", idx+1, total, node)
-		if _, err := o.kubectl(ctx, 20*time.Second, "cordon", node); err != nil {
-			o.log.Printf("warning: cordon %s failed: %v", node, err)
+func (o *Orchestrator) listScalableWorkloads(ctx context.Context) ([]workloadScaleEntry, error) {
+	exclude := map[string]struct{}{}
+	for _, ns := range o.cfg.ExcludedNamespaces {
+		exclude[strings.TrimSpace(ns)] = struct{}{}
+	}
+
+	collect := func(kind string) ([]workloadScaleEntry, error) {
+		out, err := o.kubectl(
+			ctx,
+			25*time.Second,
+			"get",
+			kind,
+			"-A",
+			"-o",
+			"jsonpath={range .items[*]}{.metadata.namespace}{'\\t'}{.metadata.name}{'\\t'}{.spec.replicas}{'\\n'}{end}",
+		)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
 		}
-		if _, err := o.kubectl(ctx, 3*time.Minute, "drain", node, "--ignore-daemonsets", "--delete-emptydir-data", "--grace-period=30", "--timeout=180s"); err != nil {
-			o.log.Printf("warning: drain %s failed: %v", node, err)
+		var entries []workloadScaleEntry
+		for _, line := range lines(out) {
+			parts := strings.Split(line, "\t")
+			if len(parts) < 3 {
+				continue
+			}
+			ns := strings.TrimSpace(parts[0])
+			if _, skip := exclude[ns]; skip {
+				continue
+			}
+			replicas, convErr := strconv.Atoi(strings.TrimSpace(parts[2]))
+			if convErr != nil || replicas <= 0 {
+				continue
+			}
+			entries = append(entries, workloadScaleEntry{
+				Namespace: ns,
+				Kind:      kind,
+				Name:      strings.TrimSpace(parts[1]),
+				Replicas:  replicas,
+			})
+		}
+		return entries, nil
+	}
+
+	deployments, err := collect("deployment")
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("collect deployments: %w", err)
+	}
+	statefulsets, err := collect("statefulset")
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("collect statefulsets: %w", err)
+	}
+	targets := append(deployments, statefulsets...)
+	sort.Slice(targets, func(i, j int) bool {
+		a, b := targets[i], targets[j]
+		if a.Namespace != b.Namespace {
+			return a.Namespace < b.Namespace
+		}
+		if a.Kind != b.Kind {
+			return a.Kind < b.Kind
+		}
+		return a.Name < b.Name
+	})
+	return targets, nil
+}
+
+func (o *Orchestrator) scaleWorkloads(ctx context.Context, entries []workloadScaleEntry, forceReplicas int, parallelism int) error {
+	if len(entries) == 0 {
+		return nil
+	}
+	if parallelism <= 0 {
+		parallelism = 1
+	}
+	if parallelism > len(entries) {
+		parallelism = len(entries)
+	}
+
+	sem := make(chan struct{}, parallelism)
+	var wg sync.WaitGroup
+	errCh := make(chan error, len(entries))
+
+	for _, entry := range entries {
+		entry := entry
+		wg.Add(1)
+		go func() {
+			defer wg.Done()
+			sem <- struct{}{}
+			defer func() { <-sem }()
+
+			replicas := entry.Replicas
+			if forceReplicas >= 0 {
+				replicas = forceReplicas
+			}
+			if _, err := o.kubectl(
+				ctx,
+				20*time.Second,
+				"-n",
+				entry.Namespace,
+				"scale",
+				entry.Kind,
+				entry.Name,
+				fmt.Sprintf("--replicas=%d", replicas),
+			); err != nil {
+				if isNotFoundErr(err) {
+					o.log.Printf("warning: skip missing workload while scaling %s/%s/%s", entry.Namespace, entry.Kind, entry.Name)
+					return
+				}
+				errCh <- fmt.Errorf("scale %s/%s/%s -> %d: %w", entry.Namespace, entry.Kind, entry.Name, replicas, err)
+			}
+		}()
+	}
+
+	wg.Wait()
+	close(errCh)
+
+	errorCount := len(errCh)
+	if errorCount == 0 {
+		return nil
+	}
+	errs := make([]string, 0, len(errCh))
+	for err := range errCh {
+		errs = append(errs, err.Error())
+		if len(errs) >= 5 {
+			break
 		}
 	}
+	return fmt.Errorf("scaling had %d errors (first: %s)", errorCount, strings.Join(errs, " | "))
+}
+
+func (o *Orchestrator) scaledWorkloadSnapshotPath() string {
+	return filepath.Join(o.cfg.State.Dir, "scaled-workloads.json")
+}
+
+func (o *Orchestrator) writeScaledWorkloadSnapshot(entries []workloadScaleEntry) error {
+	if o.runner.DryRun {
+		return nil
+	}
+	if err := os.MkdirAll(o.cfg.State.Dir, 0o755); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("ensure state dir: %w", err)
+	}
+	payload := workloadScaleSnapshot{
+		GeneratedAt: time.Now().UTC(),
+		Entries:     entries,
+	}
+	b, err := json.MarshalIndent(payload, "", "  ")
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("marshal scaled workload snapshot: %w", err)
+	}
+	if err := os.WriteFile(o.scaledWorkloadSnapshotPath(), b, 0o644); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("write scaled workload snapshot: %w", err)
+	}
 	return nil
 }
 
+func (o *Orchestrator) readScaledWorkloadSnapshot() (*workloadScaleSnapshot, error) {
+	if o.runner.DryRun {
+		return nil, nil
+	}
+	b, err := os.ReadFile(o.scaledWorkloadSnapshotPath())
+	if err != nil {
+		if os.IsNotExist(err) {
+			return nil, nil
+		}
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("read scaled workload snapshot: %w", err)
+	}
+	var snapshot workloadScaleSnapshot
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(b, &snapshot); err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("decode scaled workload snapshot: %w", err)
+	}
+	return &snapshot, nil
+}
+
+func (o *Orchestrator) drainWorkers(ctx context.Context, workers []string) error {
+	total := len(workers)
+	if total == 0 {
+		return nil
+	}
+	parallelism := o.cfg.Shutdown.DrainParallelism
+	if parallelism <= 0 {
+		parallelism = 6
+	}
+	if parallelism > total {
+		parallelism = total
+	}
+
+	o.log.Printf("drain workers total=%d parallelism=%d", total, parallelism)
+	sem := make(chan struct{}, parallelism)
+	var wg sync.WaitGroup
+	errCh := make(chan error, total)
+
+	for idx, node := range workers {
+		idx := idx
+		node := node
+		wg.Add(1)
+		go func() {
+			defer wg.Done()
+			sem <- struct{}{}
+			defer func() { <-sem }()
+
+			o.log.Printf("drain worker %d/%d: %s", idx+1, total, node)
+			if _, err := o.kubectl(ctx, 20*time.Second, "cordon", node); err != nil {
+				o.log.Printf("warning: cordon %s failed: %v", node, err)
+			}
+			if _, err := o.kubectl(ctx, 3*time.Minute, "drain", node, "--ignore-daemonsets", "--delete-emptydir-data", "--grace-period=30", "--timeout=180s"); err != nil {
+				errCh <- fmt.Errorf("drain %s failed: %w", node, err)
+				return
+			}
+		}()
+	}
+
+	wg.Wait()
+	close(errCh)
+	if len(errCh) == 0 {
+		return nil
+	}
+	count := len(errCh)
+	samples := []string{}
+	for err := range errCh {
+		samples = append(samples, err.Error())
+		if len(samples) >= 4 {
+			break
+		}
+	}
+	return fmt.Errorf("drain workers had %d errors (first: %s)", count, strings.Join(samples, " | "))
+}
+
 func (o *Orchestrator) uncordonWorkers(ctx context.Context, workers []string) error {
 	for _, node := range workers {
 		if _, err := o.kubectl(ctx, 20*time.Second, "uncordon", node); err != nil {
@@ -376,55 +627,53 @@ func (o *Orchestrator) uncordonWorkers(ctx context.Context, workers []string) er
 }
 
 func (o *Orchestrator) stopWorkers(ctx context.Context, workers []string) {
-	for _, n := range workers {
-		if !o.sshManaged(n) {
-			o.log.Printf("skip stop k3s-agent on %s: node not in ssh_managed_nodes", n)
-			continue
-		}
-		o.bestEffort("stop k3s-agent on "+n, func() error {
-			_, err := o.ssh(ctx, n, "sudo systemctl stop k3s-agent || true")
-			return err
-		})
-	}
+	o.runSSHAcrossNodes(ctx, workers, "stop k3s-agent", "sudo systemctl stop k3s-agent || true")
 }
 
 func (o *Orchestrator) startWorkers(ctx context.Context, workers []string) {
-	for _, n := range workers {
-		if !o.sshManaged(n) {
-			o.log.Printf("skip start k3s-agent on %s: node not in ssh_managed_nodes", n)
-			continue
-		}
-		o.bestEffort("start k3s-agent on "+n, func() error {
-			_, err := o.ssh(ctx, n, "sudo systemctl start k3s-agent || true")
-			return err
-		})
-	}
+	o.runSSHAcrossNodes(ctx, workers, "start k3s-agent", "sudo systemctl start k3s-agent || true")
 }
 
 func (o *Orchestrator) stopControlPlanes(ctx context.Context, cps []string) {
-	for _, n := range cps {
-		if !o.sshManaged(n) {
-			o.log.Printf("skip stop k3s on %s: node not in ssh_managed_nodes", n)
-			continue
-		}
-		o.bestEffort("stop k3s on "+n, func() error {
-			_, err := o.ssh(ctx, n, "sudo systemctl stop k3s || true")
-			return err
-		})
-	}
+	o.runSSHAcrossNodes(ctx, cps, "stop k3s", "sudo systemctl stop k3s || true")
 }
 
 func (o *Orchestrator) startControlPlanes(ctx context.Context, cps []string) {
-	for _, n := range cps {
-		if !o.sshManaged(n) {
-			o.log.Printf("skip start k3s on %s: node not in ssh_managed_nodes", n)
+	o.runSSHAcrossNodes(ctx, cps, "start k3s", "sudo systemctl start k3s || true")
+}
+
+func (o *Orchestrator) runSSHAcrossNodes(ctx context.Context, nodes []string, action, command string) {
+	if len(nodes) == 0 {
+		return
+	}
+	parallelism := o.cfg.Shutdown.SSHParallelism
+	if parallelism <= 0 {
+		parallelism = 8
+	}
+	if parallelism > len(nodes) {
+		parallelism = len(nodes)
+	}
+
+	sem := make(chan struct{}, parallelism)
+	var wg sync.WaitGroup
+	for _, node := range nodes {
+		node := node
+		if !o.sshManaged(node) {
+			o.log.Printf("skip %s on %s: node not in ssh_managed_nodes", action, node)
 			continue
 		}
-		o.bestEffort("start k3s on "+n, func() error {
-			_, err := o.ssh(ctx, n, "sudo systemctl start k3s || true")
-			return err
-		})
+		wg.Add(1)
+		go func() {
+			defer wg.Done()
+			sem <- struct{}{}
+			defer func() { <-sem }()
+			o.bestEffort(action+" on "+node, func() error {
+				_, err := o.ssh(ctx, node, command)
+				return err
+			})
+		}()
 	}
+	wg.Wait()
 }
 
 func (o *Orchestrator) takeEtcdSnapshot(ctx context.Context, node string) error {
diff --git a/internal/config/config.go b/internal/config/config.go
index 6d7216d..4077f25 100644
--- a/internal/config/config.go
+++ b/internal/config/config.go
@@ -41,6 +41,9 @@ type Shutdown struct {
 	DefaultBudgetSeconds int      `yaml:"default_budget_seconds"`
 	SkipEtcdSnapshot     bool     `yaml:"skip_etcd_snapshot"`
 	SkipDrain            bool     `yaml:"skip_drain"`
+	DrainParallelism     int      `yaml:"drain_parallelism"`
+	ScaleParallelism     int      `yaml:"scale_parallelism"`
+	SSHParallelism       int      `yaml:"ssh_parallelism"`
 	PoweroffEnabled      bool     `yaml:"poweroff_enabled"`
 	PoweroffDelaySeconds int      `yaml:"poweroff_delay_seconds"`
 	PoweroffLocalHost    bool     `yaml:"poweroff_local_host"`
@@ -117,6 +120,15 @@ func (c Config) Validate() error {
 	if c.Shutdown.DefaultBudgetSeconds <= 0 {
 		return fmt.Errorf("config.shutdown.default_budget_seconds must be > 0")
 	}
+	if c.Shutdown.DrainParallelism <= 0 {
+		return fmt.Errorf("config.shutdown.drain_parallelism must be > 0")
+	}
+	if c.Shutdown.ScaleParallelism <= 0 {
+		return fmt.Errorf("config.shutdown.scale_parallelism must be > 0")
+	}
+	if c.Shutdown.SSHParallelism <= 0 {
+		return fmt.Errorf("config.shutdown.ssh_parallelism must be > 0")
+	}
 	if c.Startup.APIWaitSeconds <= 0 {
 		return fmt.Errorf("config.startup.api_wait_seconds must be > 0")
 	}
@@ -193,6 +205,9 @@ func defaults() Config {
 		},
 		Shutdown: Shutdown{
 			DefaultBudgetSeconds: 1380,
+			DrainParallelism:     6,
+			ScaleParallelism:     8,
+			SSHParallelism:       8,
 			PoweroffEnabled:      true,
 			PoweroffDelaySeconds: 25,
 			PoweroffLocalHost:    true,
@@ -247,6 +262,15 @@ func (c *Config) applyDefaults() {
 	if c.Shutdown.DefaultBudgetSeconds <= 0 {
 		c.Shutdown.DefaultBudgetSeconds = 1380
 	}
+	if c.Shutdown.DrainParallelism <= 0 {
+		c.Shutdown.DrainParallelism = 6
+	}
+	if c.Shutdown.ScaleParallelism <= 0 {
+		c.Shutdown.ScaleParallelism = 8
+	}
+	if c.Shutdown.SSHParallelism <= 0 {
+		c.Shutdown.SSHParallelism = 8
+	}
 	if c.Shutdown.PoweroffDelaySeconds <= 0 {
 		c.Shutdown.PoweroffDelaySeconds = 25
 	}