diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index e5ac0a4cd2a7311f5f8eb5b2079ca1ce773aeb48..215b19098a0f1e8e8696836534a74443c057ad14 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -1,7 +1,12 @@
 image: maven:3-openjdk-17
 
+cache:
+  paths:
+    - .m2
+
 variables:
   GIT_STRATEGY: "clone"
+  MAVEN_OPTS: "-Dmaven.repo.local=.m2/repository"
 
 stages:
   - test
@@ -11,7 +16,11 @@ stages:
 test-backend:
   stage: test
   script:
+    # find how many files are cached in .m2 directory
+    - find .m2 | wc -l || true
     - mvn -B clean install
+    # find how many files are cached in .m2 directory
+    - find .m2 | wc -l || true
 
 build-image:
   stage: build