Maybe you can show us your code? I have a hard time imagining your code.

my $jobs = Thread::Queue->new(@stores);

# read work file
sub processWF {
   my $val = shift;
   open(WORKFILE, "<$workFile");
   my @lines = <WORKFILE>;
   #@lines = sort @lines;
   #chop @lines;
   while (defined (my $item = $jobs->dequeue)) {
      foreach my $line (@lines) {
            $line =~ s/storeplaceholder/$item/;
            print "running: $line";
            system($line);
      }
   }
   close(WORKFILE);
}


$jobs->enqueue(undef) for 1..$max_thread_count;

my @workers = map { threads->create( \processWF ) } 1..$max_thread_cou
+nt;
[download]

The code reads a file which has something like ssh storeplaceholder -l xyz "/usr/bin/ls"

I don't see you using strict and I don't see you initializing $max_thread_count. Also, \processWF is not valid Perl syntax. Please post the code you use, not something you type in from another window.