diff --git a/docker-compose.optical-dev.yml b/docker-compose.optical-dev.yml
index a839a26..ff7bee3 100644
--- a/docker-compose.optical-dev.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.optical-dev.yml
@@ -85,18 +85,18 @@ services:
 
   # ── Pipeline workers — enabled in fallback mode ────────────────────────────
 
-  # ffmpeg-worker: CPU-intensive encoding now runs on Cloud Run (ffmpeg-http-service).
-  # Container is a lightweight HTTP dispatcher — reduced resource limits.
+  # ffmpeg-worker: CPU-intensive encoding runs on Cloud Run (ffmpeg-http-service).
+  # Memory limit kept at 1G — local ffmpeg may still run during GCS file staging.
   ffmpeg-worker:
     deploy:
       replicas: 1
       resources:
         limits:
-          memory: 256M
-          cpus: '0.25'
+          memory: 1G
+          cpus: '0.5'
         reservations:
-          memory: 128M
-          cpus: '0.05'
+          memory: 256M
+          cpus: '0.1'
     environment:
       FFMPEG_SERVICE_URL: "https://ffmpeg-http-service-bcb6ipdqka-uc.a.run.app"
 
@@ -111,17 +111,18 @@ services:
           memory: 128M
           cpus: '0.1'
 
-  # whisper-worker: Whisper inference now runs on Cloud Run (whisper-http-service).
-  # Container is a lightweight HTTP dispatcher — reduced resource limits.
+  # whisper-worker: Whisper inference runs on Cloud Run (whisper-http-service).
+  # Memory limit kept at 2G — faster_whisper loads the model into memory at startup
+  # regardless of whether tasks are routed to Cloud Run.
   whisper-worker:
     deploy:
       replicas: 1
       resources:
         limits:
+          memory: 2G
+          cpus: '0.5'
+        reservations:
           memory: 512M
           cpus: '0.25'
-        reservations:
-          memory: 256M
-          cpus: '0.05'
     environment:
       WHISPER_SERVICE_URL: "https://whisper-http-service-bcb6ipdqka-uc.a.run.app"