diff --git a/Code/Framework/AzCore/AzCore/Jobs/JobManagerComponent.cpp b/Code/Framework/AzCore/AzCore/Jobs/JobManagerComponent.cpp
index 25dfc7a493..2cd740bf9e 100644
--- a/Code/Framework/AzCore/AzCore/Jobs/JobManagerComponent.cpp
+++ b/Code/Framework/AzCore/AzCore/Jobs/JobManagerComponent.cpp
@@ -18,6 +18,11 @@
 #include <AzCore/std/parallel/thread.h>
 #include <AzCore/Math/MathUtils.h>
 
+#include <AzCore/Console/IConsole.h>
+
+AZ_CVAR(uint32_t, cl_numeratorJobThreads, 1, nullptr, AZ::ConsoleFunctorFlags::Null, "Legacy Job system multiplier on the number of hw threads the machine supports to create at initialization");
+AZ_CVAR(uint32_t, cl_denominatorJobThreads, 2, nullptr, AZ::ConsoleFunctorFlags::Null, "Legacy Job system divisor on the number of hw threads the machine supports to create at initialization");
+
 namespace AZ
 {
     //=========================================================================
@@ -46,9 +51,9 @@ namespace AZ
         JobManagerThreadDesc threadDesc;
 
         int numberOfWorkerThreads = m_numberOfWorkerThreads;
-        if (numberOfWorkerThreads <= 0)
+        if (numberOfWorkerThreads <= 0) // spawn default number of threads
         {
-            numberOfWorkerThreads = AZ::GetMin(static_cast<unsigned int>(desc.m_workerThreads.capacity()), AZStd::thread::hardware_concurrency());
+            numberOfWorkerThreads = AZ::GetMin(static_cast<unsigned int>(desc.m_workerThreads.capacity()), cl_numeratorJobThreads * AZStd::thread::hardware_concurrency() / cl_denominatorJobThreads);
         #if (AZ_TRAIT_MAX_JOB_MANAGER_WORKER_THREADS)
             numberOfWorkerThreads = AZ::GetMin(numberOfWorkerThreads, AZ_TRAIT_MAX_JOB_MANAGER_WORKER_THREADS);
         #endif // (AZ_TRAIT_MAX_JOB_MANAGER_WORKER_THREADS)
diff --git a/Code/Framework/AzCore/AzCore/Jobs/JobManagerDesc.h b/Code/Framework/AzCore/AzCore/Jobs/JobManagerDesc.h
index 5594d7aa15..94f84f27b3 100644
--- a/Code/Framework/AzCore/AzCore/Jobs/JobManagerDesc.h
+++ b/Code/Framework/AzCore/AzCore/Jobs/JobManagerDesc.h
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ namespace AZ
         */
         int     m_stackSize;
 
-        JobManagerThreadDesc(int cpuId = -1, int priority = -100000, int stackSize = -1)
+        JobManagerThreadDesc(int cpuId = -1, int priority = 0, int stackSize = -1)
             : m_cpuId(cpuId)
             , m_priority(priority)
             , m_stackSize(stackSize)
diff --git a/Code/Framework/AzCore/AzCore/Task/TaskExecutor.cpp b/Code/Framework/AzCore/AzCore/Task/TaskExecutor.cpp
index 7da04d7301..4097348798 100644
--- a/Code/Framework/AzCore/AzCore/Task/TaskExecutor.cpp
+++ b/Code/Framework/AzCore/AzCore/Task/TaskExecutor.cpp
@@ -308,11 +308,11 @@ namespace AZ
 
     void TaskExecutor::SetInstance(TaskExecutor* executor)
     {
-        if (!executor)
+        if (!executor) // allow unsetting the executor
         {
             s_executor.Reset();
         }
-        else if (!s_executor) // ignore any calls to set after the first (this happens in unit tests that create new system entities)
+        else if (!s_executor) // ignore any extra executors after the first (this happens during unit tests)
         {
             s_executor = AZ::Environment::CreateVariable<TaskExecutor*>(s_executorName, executor);
         }
diff --git a/Code/Framework/AzCore/AzCore/Task/TaskGraphSystemComponent.cpp b/Code/Framework/AzCore/AzCore/Task/TaskGraphSystemComponent.cpp
index eed461ecb4..198969dbce 100644
--- a/Code/Framework/AzCore/AzCore/Task/TaskGraphSystemComponent.cpp
+++ b/Code/Framework/AzCore/AzCore/Task/TaskGraphSystemComponent.cpp
@@ -14,6 +14,9 @@
 
 // Create a cvar as a central location for experimentation with switching from the Job system to TaskGraph system.
 AZ_CVAR(bool, cl_activateTaskGraph, false, nullptr, AZ::ConsoleFunctorFlags::Null, "Flag clients of TaskGraph to switch between jobs/taskgraph (Note does not disable task graph system)");
+AZ_CVAR(uint32_t, cl_numeratorTaskGraphThreads, 3, nullptr, AZ::ConsoleFunctorFlags::Null, "TaskGraph multiplier on the number of hw threads the machine supports to create at initialization");
+AZ_CVAR(uint32_t, cl_denominatorTaskGraphThreads, 4, nullptr, AZ::ConsoleFunctorFlags::Null, "TaskGraph divisor on the number of hw threads the machine supports to create at initialization");
+
 static constexpr uint32_t TaskExecutorServiceCrc = AZ_CRC_CE("TaskExecutorService");
 
 namespace AZ
@@ -24,9 +27,10 @@ namespace AZ
 
         if (Interface<TaskGraphActiveInterface>::Get() == nullptr)
         {
-            Interface<TaskGraphActiveInterface>::Register(this);
-            m_taskExecutor = aznew TaskExecutor();
+        	uint32_t numThreads = cl_numeratorTaskGraphThreads * AZStd::thread::hardware_concurrency() / cl_denominatorTaskGraphThreads;
+        	m_taskExecutor = aznew TaskExecutor(numThreads);
             TaskExecutor::SetInstance(m_taskExecutor);
+			Interface<UseTaskGraphInterface>::Register(this);
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/Code/Framework/AzCore/Platform/Common/UnixLike/AzCore/std/parallel/internal/thread_UnixLike.cpp b/Code/Framework/AzCore/Platform/Common/UnixLike/AzCore/std/parallel/internal/thread_UnixLike.cpp
index 079f167408..b615f677f1 100644
--- a/Code/Framework/AzCore/Platform/Common/UnixLike/AzCore/std/parallel/internal/thread_UnixLike.cpp
+++ b/Code/Framework/AzCore/Platform/Common/UnixLike/AzCore/std/parallel/internal/thread_UnixLike.cpp
@@ -59,6 +59,10 @@ namespace AZStd
                 {
                     priority = desc->m_priority;
                 }
+                else
+                {
+                    priority = SCHED_OTHER;
+                }
                 if (desc->m_name)
                 {
                     name = desc->m_name;