diff --git a/audmodel/core/api.py b/audmodel/core/api.py
index 607284b..5901833 100644
--- a/audmodel/core/api.py
+++ b/audmodel/core/api.py
@@ -278,6 +278,7 @@ def load(
     *,
     cache_root: str | None = None,
     timeout: float = 14400,  # 4 h
+    num_workers: int = 1,
     verbose: bool = False,
 ) -> str:
     r"""Download a model by its unique ID.
@@ -294,6 +295,7 @@ def load(
             If not set :meth:`audmodel.default_cache_root` is used
         timeout: maximum time in seconds
             before giving up acquiring a lock
+        num_workers: number of parallel jobs
         verbose: show debug messages
 
     Returns:
@@ -313,7 +315,7 @@ def load(
     """
     cache_root = audeer.safe_path(cache_root or default_cache_root())
     short_id, version = split_uid(uid, cache_root)
-    return get_archive(short_id, version, cache_root, timeout, verbose)
+    return get_archive(short_id, version, cache_root, timeout, num_workers, verbose)
 
 
 def meta(
diff --git a/audmodel/core/backend.py b/audmodel/core/backend.py
index 0f04c08..e69d61d 100644
--- a/audmodel/core/backend.py
+++ b/audmodel/core/backend.py
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ def get_archive(
     version: str,
     cache_root: str,
     timeout: float,
+    num_workers: int,
     verbose: bool,
 ) -> str:
     r"""Return backend and local archive path.
@@ -70,6 +71,7 @@ def get_archive(
         cache_root: path of cache root
         timeout: maximum time in seconds
             before giving up acquiring a lock
+        num_workers: number of parallel jobs
         verbose: if ``True`` show message
             or progress bar
             when downloading file
@@ -106,6 +108,7 @@ def get_archive(
                     src_path,
                     dst_path,
                     version,
+                    num_workers=num_workers,
                     verbose=verbose,
                 )
 
@@ -114,6 +117,7 @@ def get_archive(
                 dst_path,
                 tmp_root,
                 keep_archive=False,
+                num_workers=num_workers,
                 verbose=verbose,
             )
 
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index a1f4f08..2ec6aa9 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -31,7 +31,8 @@ classifiers = [
 ]
 requires-python = '>=3.10'
 dependencies = [
-    'audbackend[all] >=2.2.2',
+    'audbackend[all] >=2.3.0',
+    'audeer @ git+https://github.com/audeering/audeer.git@archive-num-workers-2',
     'filelock',
     'oyaml',
 ]