After September marked the end of extra pandemic-induced unemployment benefits, workers didn’t flood the labor force as expected. According to the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary released on Oct. 12,  by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 10.4 million job openings at the end of August, with 6.3 million hires. The lag in workers highlights an ongoing challenge for businesses across the country: as businesses reopen, some industries are struggling to find and keep workers. A lack of applicants, however, isn’t always negative for companies and profits. The shift to software, machines, and contactless methods was already underway in certain segments pre-pandemic, and the health crisis simply spurred on the process. “Prior to the pandemic, we had over 120 employees,” Bret Bonnet, co-founder, and president of Quality Logo Products, a Chicago-based company that prints logos on merchandise such as t-shirts, water bottles, and stress bottles, told The …