diff --git a/.cursor/rules/running_tests.mdc b/.cursor/rules/running_tests.mdc
index f238959..32dc2c7 100644
--- a/.cursor/rules/running_tests.mdc
+++ b/.cursor/rules/running_tests.mdc
@@ -11,3 +11,4 @@ Use the `TEST` variable to select specific tests:
 - Backend: `make test-backend TEST="tests/test_booking.py"` or `TEST="tests/test_booking.py::TestClass::test_method"`
 - Frontend: `make test-frontend TEST="app/login"` (file pattern)
 - E2E: `make test-e2e TEST="auth"` (matches e2e/auth.spec.ts)
+- Don't do `2>&1 | tail`. Let the output hit the console when running the tests.
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index eef0e3c..a79d834 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-.PHONY: install-backend install-frontend install setup-hooks backend frontend db db-stop db-ready db-seed dev test test-backend test-frontend test-e2e typecheck generate-types generate-types-standalone check-types-fresh check-constants lint-backend format-backend fix-backend security-backend lint-frontend fix-frontend format-frontend pre-commit lint
+.PHONY: install-backend install-frontend install setup-hooks backend frontend worker db db-stop db-ready db-seed dev test test-backend test-frontend test-e2e typecheck generate-types generate-types-standalone check-types-fresh check-constants lint-backend format-backend fix-backend security-backend lint-frontend fix-frontend format-frontend pre-commit lint
 
 -include .env
 export
@@ -20,6 +20,9 @@ backend:
 frontend:
 	cd frontend && npm run dev
 
+worker:
+	cd backend && uv run python worker.py
+
 db:
 	docker compose up -d db
 
@@ -46,6 +49,7 @@ dev:
 	$(MAKE) db-seed
 	cd backend && uv run uvicorn main:app --reload & \
 	cd frontend && npm run dev & \
+	cd backend && uv run python worker.py & \
 	wait
 
 # TEST variable can be used to select specific tests:
diff --git a/backend/pyproject.toml b/backend/pyproject.toml
index af0c848..5f49358 100644
--- a/backend/pyproject.toml
+++ b/backend/pyproject.toml
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ dependencies = [
     "python-jose[cryptography]>=3.3.0",
     "email-validator>=2.0.0",
     "bech32>=1.2.0",
+    "pgqueuer>=0.1.0",
 ]
 
 [dependency-groups]
diff --git a/backend/worker.py b/backend/worker.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f304871
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/worker.py
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+"""Worker process for processing async jobs using pgqueuer."""
+
+import asyncio
+import logging
+import os
+
+import asyncpg
+from pgqueuer import AsyncpgDriver, PgQueuer, Queries
+
+logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO)
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+# Get DATABASE_URL and convert from SQLAlchemy format (postgresql+asyncpg://)
+# to asyncpg format (postgresql://)
+_raw_db_url = os.getenv(
+    "DATABASE_URL", "postgresql+asyncpg://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/arbret"
+)
+DATABASE_URL = _raw_db_url.replace("postgresql+asyncpg://", "postgresql://")
+
+
+async def main() -> None:
+    """Main worker loop."""
+    logger.info("Starting worker...")
+
+    # Connect to database independently
+    conn = await asyncpg.connect(DATABASE_URL)
+    driver = AsyncpgDriver(conn)
+
+    # Install pgqueuer schema (creates tables if they don't exist)
+    queries = Queries.from_asyncpg_connection(conn)
+    try:
+        await queries.install()
+        logger.info("pgqueuer schema installed")
+    except Exception as e:
+        # Schema might already exist, which is fine
+        if "already exists" in str(e).lower():
+            logger.info("pgqueuer schema already exists")
+        else:
+            raise
+
+    # Initialize pgqueuer
+    pgq = PgQueuer(connection=driver)
+
+    # Register job handlers using entrypoint decorator
+    @pgq.entrypoint("dummy")  # type: ignore[type-var]
+    async def dummy_job_handler(payload: dict) -> None:
+        """Dummy job handler for testing."""
+        logger.info(f"Processing dummy job with payload: {payload}")
+
+    logger.info("Worker started, waiting for jobs...")
+
+    # Start consuming jobs
+    try:
+        await pgq.run()
+    except KeyboardInterrupt:
+        logger.info("Worker shutting down...")
+    finally:
+        await conn.close()
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    asyncio.run(main())