Microsoft offered me a buyout at 47. In tech, that's basically grandma age, but I'm not sure I'm ready to retire.

Marisela Cerda received a buyout offer from Microsoft, where she's worked since college.

Courtesy of Marisela Cerda

• Marisela Cerda, who's worked at Microsoft for nearly 25 years, received a buyout offer at age 47.
• The company's offer has prompted her to consider her career and future contributions in tech.
• Cerda values Microsoft's culture under CEO Satya Nadella. It's one reason she stayed so long.

Marisela Cerda, 47, is a principal customer experience manager at Microsoft and a former co-lead of the Women at Microsoft employee resource group. She started at the company in 2001 and, because of her age and tenure, received a voluntary retirement offer that would take effect in July. Business Insider verified her identity and employment. The following has been edited for brevity and clarity.

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I joined Microsoft right out of college, and I've been here over half my life. I had envisioned myself leaving at some point, but June wasn't in my mind.

I'm in my late 40s, and in tech, that's like grandma age. It's on the verge of, "If you're not a senior executive, what are you doing in this industry?" I envision it being harder to find a job in my 50s. Plus, the job market has not been easy.

Before this, I wasn't thinking about my age at all. Maybe that was my mistake.

Thinking about retirement always felt like something far off in the future. Suddenly, this offer pulled that timeline into my late 40s, and I wasn't ready for that.

Now I'm thinking about my life in a more finite way. You start asking yourself, "What's the difference I want to make in the world? What do I want to leave behind for my family?"

Now what?

This moment has forced me to face those questions sooner than I thought I would. I knew I was going to reach my 25-year mark at Microsoft in July, which is kind of a big deal. There's a wall of crystal plaques. And if you make it to 25 years, you get your name up there.

I knew that when I hit that milestone, the next question would be "Now what?"

The money they're offering brings no clarity to that question — only a sense of urgency. Because when it surfaced, it was like, "Oh my gosh, I'm included now in a category of people that are considered old." The company would never say we're considered old, but it's brought my age to the top of my brain.

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If I'm already included in the retiree group at 47, what does that mean for 50? What does 55 look like? What's really bubbled up for me is: I'd better figure this out, because there does come a point where it gets harder.

This buyout offer has accelerated the need to figure out what's next, how I'm going to spend my time for the next 15 years of my career, and to really home in on where I want to make a difference in my community.

I don't feel so lost

As we get into our late career, this is the time we have the most experience, the most knowledge. I have the highest ability I've had at any time to focus on the things that are important.

In your career, you go through lots of cycles of learning, and then eventually you're like, "Even with this changing environment, and even with AI being this whole new thing for the industry, for once, I don't feel so lost. I feel like I can figure this out."

This is a very odd thing to experience. I'm more upbeat about my personal journey and where I need to go. I have more clarity for myself.

Move toward what you want

I stayed as long as I stayed because Satya [Nadella] became CEO in 2014 and changed the culture, which really made it feel like a new company. Before, it was very in-your-face aggressive. The culture he set for us felt unique. It was about having a growth mindset, about valuing what our customers were telling us, about learning from mistakes, and being inclusive.

In thinking about this possible transition for me, it's not just money I might leave on the table, but the next wave of technologies coming in that you miss out on learning about the same way. And you're at a company that invests billions of dollars in new technology, so where would it be better to learn it than here?

I think about this a lot in my career: You move toward what you want more of, versus moving away from things you don't want.

As I was walking through campus recently, I was like, "Is this one of the last times I'm going to be doing this?

I imagine myself on that day, having walked away, and it feels yucky because I think about the people I work with, and that I'm not going to jump on a call with them on a Monday like I normally would.

I really do think about it more than just my paycheck. I think about what kind of technological world I am leaving for my kids.

I'm Hispanic. I grew up in Northern California when very few Latinos went into tech. I wanted other people to see that they could do it, too. I'm very grateful that I had this opportunity.

A Microsoft spokesperson told Business Insider that the buyout offer is voluntary. The program uses a formula based on age and years of service to cover longtime employees and those considering retirement. It includes added benefits, such as access to Microsoft health insurance for five years.

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