diff --git a/src/zeebe/lib/ZBStreamWorker.ts b/src/zeebe/lib/ZBStreamWorker.ts
index 8c1a8fc4..269d8625 100644
--- a/src/zeebe/lib/ZBStreamWorker.ts
+++ b/src/zeebe/lib/ZBStreamWorker.ts
@@ -66,20 +66,28 @@ export class ZBStreamWorker implements IZBJobWorker {
 					console.error(e)
 				})
 				stream.on('data', (res: ActivatedJob) => {
-					// Make handlers
-					const job: Job<WorkerInputVariables, CustomHeaderShape> =
-						parseVariablesAndCustomHeadersToJSON<
-							WorkerInputVariables,
-							CustomHeaderShape
-						>(res, inputVariableDto, customHeadersDto)
-					taskHandler(
-						{
-							...job,
-							// eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any
-							...this.makeCompleteHandlers(job as any, req.type),
-						},
-						this
-					)
+					parseVariablesAndCustomHeadersToJSON<
+						WorkerInputVariables,
+						CustomHeaderShape
+					>(res, inputVariableDto, customHeadersDto)
+						.then((job: Job<WorkerInputVariables, CustomHeaderShape>) => {
+							taskHandler(
+								{
+									...job,
+									// eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any
+									...this.makeCompleteHandlers(job as any, req.type),
+								},
+								this
+							)
+						})
+						.catch((e) =>
+							this.zbClient.failJob({
+								jobKey: res.key,
+								errorMessage: `Error parsing variable payload ${e}`,
+								retries: res.retries - 1,
+								retryBackOff: 0,
+							})
+						)
 				})
 				this.streams.push(stream)
 				return {
diff --git a/src/zeebe/lib/ZBWorkerBase.ts b/src/zeebe/lib/ZBWorkerBase.ts
index 57b6300d..730c1f65 100644
--- a/src/zeebe/lib/ZBWorkerBase.ts
+++ b/src/zeebe/lib/ZBWorkerBase.ts
@@ -603,12 +603,28 @@ You should call only one job action method in the worker handler. This is a bug
 		}
 		this.activeJobs += res.jobs.length
 
-		const jobs = res.jobs.map((job) =>
-			parseVariablesAndCustomHeadersToJSON<
-				WorkerInputVariables,
-				CustomHeaderShape
-			>(job, this.inputVariableDto, this.customHeadersDto)
-		)
-		this.handleJobs(jobs)
+		Promise.all(
+			res.jobs
+				.map((job) =>
+					parseVariablesAndCustomHeadersToJSON<
+						WorkerInputVariables,
+						CustomHeaderShape
+					>(job, this.inputVariableDto, this.customHeadersDto)
+						.then((job) => job)
+						.catch((e) => {
+							this.zbClient.failJob({
+								jobKey: job.key,
+								errorMessage: `Error parsing variable payload: ${e}`,
+								retries: job.retries - 1,
+								retryBackOff: 0,
+							})
+							return null
+						})
+				)
+				.filter(
+					(f): f is Promise<ZB.Job<WorkerInputVariables, CustomHeaderShape>> =>
+						!!f
+				)
+		).then((jobs) => this.handleJobs(jobs))
 	}
 }
diff --git a/src/zeebe/lib/stringifyVariables.ts b/src/zeebe/lib/stringifyVariables.ts
index 967dd0b2..57770490 100644
--- a/src/zeebe/lib/stringifyVariables.ts
+++ b/src/zeebe/lib/stringifyVariables.ts
@@ -17,17 +17,27 @@ export function parseVariablesAndCustomHeadersToJSON<Variables, CustomHeaders>(
 	inputVariableDto: new (...args: any[]) => Readonly<Variables>,
 	// eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any
 	customHeadersDto: new (...args: any[]) => Readonly<CustomHeaders>
-): Job<Variables, CustomHeaders> {
-	return Object.assign({}, response, {
-		customHeaders: losslessParse(
-			response.customHeaders,
-			customHeadersDto
-		) as CustomHeaders,
-		variables: losslessParse(
-			response.variables,
-			inputVariableDto
-		) as Readonly<Variables>,
-	}) as Job<Variables, CustomHeaders>
+): Promise<Job<Variables, CustomHeaders>> {
+	return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+		try {
+			resolve(
+				Object.assign({}, response, {
+					customHeaders: losslessParse(
+						response.customHeaders,
+						customHeadersDto
+					) as CustomHeaders,
+					variables: losslessParse(
+						response.variables,
+						inputVariableDto
+					) as Readonly<Variables>,
+				}) as Job<Variables, CustomHeaders>
+			)
+		} catch (e) {
+			console.error(`Error parsing variables ${e}`)
+			console.error('Job', response)
+			reject(e)
+		}
+	})
 }
 
 export function stringifyVariables<
diff --git a/src/zeebe/zb/ZeebeGrpcClient.ts b/src/zeebe/zb/ZeebeGrpcClient.ts
index 948fb2b4..0e28649a 100644
--- a/src/zeebe/zb/ZeebeGrpcClient.ts
+++ b/src/zeebe/zb/ZeebeGrpcClient.ts
@@ -284,14 +284,22 @@ export class ZeebeGrpcClient extends TypedEmitter<
 
 				const stream = await (await this.grpc).activateJobsStream(req)
 				stream.on('data', (res: Grpc.ActivateJobsResponse) => {
-					const parsedJobs = res.jobs.map((job) =>
+					res.jobs.forEach((job) =>
 						parseVariablesAndCustomHeadersToJSON<Variables, CustomHeaders>(
 							job,
 							inputVariableDtoToUse,
 							customHeadersDtoToUse
 						)
+							.then((parsedJob) => jobs.push(parsedJob))
+							.catch((e) =>
+								this.failJob({
+									jobKey: job.key,
+									errorMessage: `Error parsing job variables ${e}`,
+									retries: job.retries - 1,
+									retryBackOff: 0,
+								})
+							)
 					)
-					jobs.push(...parsedJobs)
 				})
 
 				stream.on('end', () => {