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.
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.
